"We see eye to eye": A senior political source said Wednesday evening that in his assessment the agreement with Saudi Arabia, if successful, will not require a change in the composition of the government, although it will include steps vis-à-vis the Palestinians.
"We insist that the agreement will not endanger Israel's security," the official said. "There will be no compromise on this. The Palestinians should be part of the process, but they must not be vetoed. This was the change in direction of the Abraham Accords. I believe that the government will accept the agreement."
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He added that if other parties wanted to join the agreement with the Saudis, based on the existing guidelines, they were welcome to do so, but Netanyahu did not aspire to do so.
As for the content of the agreement, the source reported that the United States and Israel are in exactly the same position regarding the Saudi request to enrich uranium in its territory for civilian purposes. "There is complete identity in the positions of Israel and the United States on the issue."
However, the source refused to go into details about how the future agreement with the Saudis would deal with this explosive issue. Israel opposes allowing countries in the Middle East to enrich uranium for any purpose.
Biden and Netanyahu at the start of the meeting, photo: Avi Ohayon / GPO
The senior diplomatic source estimated that there is a 50% chance of reaching an agreement with the Saudis. "It is in the interest and desire of the three countries (the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel) to reach an agreement. But there are obstacles and they are not few," he described the challenge. "Their size should not be underestimated, but there is a desire to overcome them. We must first see that this agreement meets the interests of both sides, and only then see if it can be passed in the Senate."
He also said that even without the agreement, there would be developments vis-à-vis the Saudis in the field of infrastructure.
In their meeting, President Biden and the Prime Minister also spoke about the quiet agreement between the United States and Iran, under which Iran receives approval to enrich uranium at a level of 60%, and the Prime Minister expressed his opposition to the deal. Netanyahu is expected to say clearer things on this issue in his speech at the United Nations on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the deadline for the US announcement of the exemption for Israelis from entering the US visa has been moved to September 28. So U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to formally announce that Israel has met all the requirements included in entering the Visa Waiver Program. A day earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce that the State Department has no objection to granting the exemption. This was reported by National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi, who is responsible for handling the issue and is staying with the prime minister's entourage in New York.
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