Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has the chance to attain the “dramatic expansion” of its normalization accords with Middle Eastern countries, hours after a report emerged that the premier and US President Donald Trump agreed on a vision that would see the war in Gaza end within two weeks and Arab states sign peace deals with Israel.
“We fought valiantly against Iran — and achieved a great victory,â€� Netanyahu said. “This victory opens up an opportunity for a dramatic expansion of the peace agreements. We are working hard on this.â€�
“Along with the release of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas,� he continued, “there is a window of opportunity here that must not be missed. Not even a single day can be wasted.�
According to the earlier report by Israel Hayom, which cited “a source familiar with the conversation,” Netanyahu and Trump agreed to a rapid end to the armed conflict in Gaza and the expansion of the Abraham Accords following the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities this week.
Signed at the White House on September 15, 2020, under the first Trump administration, the Abraham Accords normalized ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, along with Bahrain. Morocco later also joined the accords.
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff asserted on Wednesday his belief that additional countries will join the accords.
According to Israel Hayom, Trump and Netanyahu agreed in a phone call that the war in Gaza would end within two weeks, requiring Israel to halt its military offensive and Hamas to release the remaining 50 hostages. Four Arab states, including the UAE and Egypt, would jointly govern the Gaza Strip in place of Hamas. The terror group’s leadership would be exiled, and all hostages would be released.
However, Arab allies have repeatedly asserted that they will not take part in the postwar rehabilitation of Gaza absent Israeli acquiescence to the Palestinian Authority gaining a foothold in Gaza as part of a pathway to a future two-state solution, but Netanyahu has flatly rejected any PA role in the Strip.
Moreover, Hamas’s leaders have also long rejected demands to go into exile.
Gazans who wish to emigrate would be absorbed by several unnamed countries, the report said.
Saudi Arabia and Syria would establish diplomatic ties with Israel, and other Arab and Muslim countries would follow suit.
Israel, for its part, would express its support for a future two-state solution, conditioned on reforms made by the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, the leaders agreed that Washington would recognize Israeli sovereignty in some parts of the West Bank.
Saudi Arabia has long conditioned the establishment of diplomatic ties on Israel’s commitment to Palestinian statehood, while the possibility of peace with Syria has been raised repeatedly in recent months as the two countries are reportedly in direct contact.
The reported plan could explain Trump’s fury over Israel’s planned retaliation to Iran’s violation of the nascent ceasefire on Tuesday, and his Truth Social post calling for an end to Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
A senior Israeli official told the Kan public broadcaster Thursday evening that the post “wasn’t sent out for no reason.�
“It is part of a larger move that is meant to bring an end to the war in Gaza, the release of all the hostages, an end to Netanyahu’s trial, and a serious regional move,� the official said.
There are “discussions about dramatic moves in the Middle East,� senior Israeli officials told Channel 13.
Referencing the Israel Hayom report in a post on X on Thursday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed support for the expansion of peace deals with neighbors, but not in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“But if this is a shiny cover for an existential threat in the form of dividing the country, handing over territory to the enemy, and establishing a Palestinian terrorist state twenty times the size of Gaza and in an area that geographically and topographically controls most of the territory of the State of Israel, then no, thank you.”
“Mr. Prime Minister, let it be clear that you have no mandate. Not even for a hint or lip service,” he wrote.
Amid the developments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that Netanyahu has expressed interest in coming to Washington to meet with Trump.
Trump is open to the idea, but a date has not been set, she said.
The White House’s comments came after Axios, citing three Israeli officials familiar with the matter, reported that the premier was looking to score another White House visit in the coming weeks to celebrate the joint bombing of Iran’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu and Trump last held talks in the White House in April, where the president announced that he would be entering into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
Israel launched airstrikes on June 13 — 61 days after Trump gave a 60 day deadline for Tehran to agree to a deal — targeting Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program, saying the campaign was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its declared plan to destroy the Jewish state.
On June 22, the US struck key Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel said Tehran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.
Iran retaliated for Israel’s attacks by launching some 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel. Iran’s missile attacks killed 28 people — almost all of whom were civilians — and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals.