The surprising interview that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot gave to the Saudi news site Elaph was published on Nov. 16, just a few days before the 40th anniversary of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem. While it is hard to compare these two events, some people in Israel see a kind of connection between them.
Sadat shocked the Middle East and the entire world when he announced in 1977, without any prior warning, that he was prepared to board a plane to Jerusalem and address the Knesset, if that would lead to a historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The current interview, which was the first of its kind between an Israeli chief of staff and a Saudi news site, might indicate that the romance between Israel and Saudi Arabia may finally go public, after taking place behind the scenes for a long time. There will be no historic peace agreement here (for the moment), but there may be a kind of normalization on a low burner. Maybe.
