Several more Arab and Muslim countries are set to normalize ties with Israel, but only after the election next week, US President Donald Trump said at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2020
Asked if any more countries are on the way, after Israel established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in recent months, Trump said: “We have five, but probably nine or 10 right in the mix. We’ll have a lot. I think we’ll have all of them.”Trump later added: “We have five definites.”Progress on that front will be “largely after” the election next Tuesday, Trump added, speaking to the press before boarding Air Force One on the way to the first of three campaign rallies in the American Midwest.“We’re doing a lot of work right now. I’m involved in all these deals,” he said. “We have peace in the Middle East with no money and no blood.”Trump said the most recent of the countries to normalize ties with Israel, Sudan, that announced the step on Friday, is a “great get, because, as you know, there’s been tremendous hostility with Israel.”The president said his approach to the Middle East has been “a much different way than we’ve been doing for the last 30 years, so we’re very excited.”Sources close to Mossad director Yossi Cohen told The Jerusalem Post earlier this week that he has said normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is close.If Trump is reelected, Riyadh could announce the move almost immediately, but if Democratic challenger Biden wins, they would wait to see if he seeks to link the move to progress in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
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