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Bennett sketches path for Israeli-Saudi normalization

Having scored diplomatic achievements with Egypt, the Emirates and even Turkey, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett views Saudi Arabia as a jewel in the crown of normalization with the Arab world.
JONATHAN ERNST/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s successful visit to the UAE Dec. 13 completes a series of foreign policy moves since he took office in mid-June.

They began with the emergency repairs to Israel’s broken-down relations with Jordan’s King Abdullah, continued with restoring trust with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah a-Sisi in a Sept. 13 meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh, a significant upgrading of relations with Morocco (with which Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a security alliance at the end November), Israeli involvement in efforts to restore calm in post-coup Sudan, a significant deepening of relations with Bahrain and even the beginning of a surprising if not yet substantive conciliation in Israel's chaotic relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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