Trump predicts Israel and Saudi Arabia will normalize ties by end of year; disses PA’s Abbas, weighs intervening on jailed Barghouti

Israel and Saudi Arabia will normalize ties by the end of year, US President Donald Trump predicts.

“I think we’re very close. I think Saudi Arabia is going to lead the way,” he says in an October 15 Time magazine interview published today, in response to a question about Saudi-Israel normalization.

“They had a Gaza problem and they had an Iran problem,” he says. “Now they don’t have those two problems.”

Asked whether “Saudi will join the Abraham Accords by the end of the year,” he answers, “Yes, I do. I do.”

Trump also says that he will visit the Gaza Strip at some point.

The president indicates that he doesn’t see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of the Palestinians.

“They don’t have a leader right now, at least a visible leader, and they don’t really want to, because every one of those leaders has been shot and killed. It’s not a hot job,” said Trump, adding that he has always found Abbas “reasonable, but he’s probably not.”

He would not commit to Abbas heading a Palestinian Authority governing body in Gaza.

At the same time, Trump says he has been discussing the matter of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti and would make a decision on whether he wants Israel to free the convicted terrorist.

“I am literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called,” he says. “That was the question. That was my question of the day. So I’ll be making a decision.”