loading…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City on September 22, 2023. Photo/REUTERS
NEW YORK – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Middle East was on the cusp of historic peace.
The statement on Friday (22/9/2023) referred to efforts brokered by the United States (US) to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed Israel and Saudi Arabia were close to achieving a “dramatic breakthrough” that would not only guarantee peace between the two countries but also “transform” the entire region and create a “new Central Peace.”
He added, “Such a peace would go a long way in ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and would encourage other Arab countries to normalize their relations with Israel while increasing the prospects for peace with the Palestinians.”
If the agreement is finalized, it would continue the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 between Israel on the one hand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan on the other.
Speaking two days after meeting US President Joe Biden in New York, Netanyahu said he felt the Biden administration could secure a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the same way the Trump administration facilitated the Abraham Accords.
“The Abraham Accords were the pivot of history and today we see its blessings, with trade and investment with our new peace partners increasing as our countries cooperate in trade, energy, water and agriculture, climate and many other areas,” Netanyahu said.
“At the G20 conference, President Biden, (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, and European and Arab leaders announced a visionary corridor plan that would stretch across the Arabian Peninsula and into Israel,” he said.
“It will connect India to Europe through maritime, railways, energy pipelines, fiber optic cables. “This corridor will bypass maritime checkpoints, or rather choke points, and drastically reduce the cost of goods, communications and energy for more than 2 billion people,” he said.