Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen on Sunday said strongly that the Saudis deal with Iran will not block potential Israeli normalization with Riyadh.
He said Israeli normalization with Saudi Arabia, ” is needed and is possible.”
Speaking at an INSS conference related to the issue, the most recent former Mossad chief gave the audience an unusual personal insight into how Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman thinks, in making his prediction.
Although Cohen said he could not confirm he has met with MBS (even as the Israeli censor as of 2022 finally allowed Israeli media to publish that such meetings have occurred), he gave an unequivocal analysis of what MBS wants.
MBS lost patience with the US, not insulting Israel
Cohen said that MBS was not insulting Israel with his deal with the Islamic Republic and China, but was telegraphing to the US that he had lost patience with its harsh treatment of him and that it “had alternatives” besides America.
CHINA’S TOP diplomat, Wang Yi, flanked by senior security officials of Iran and Saudi Arabia, announces that the two countries have agreed to restore diplomatic relations, in Beijing, earlier this month. (credit: CHINA DAILY VIA REUTERS)This came after US President Joe Biden had called MBS a “pariah”, had tried (and failed) to isolate MBS from making policy and had threatened to end the special relations with Riyadh after MBS in October 2022 did not act as Biden wanted on oil price policy.
Rather, than essentially freaking out about MBS’ deal with Iran and jumping to wrong conclusions about the motivations for the deal, he said it was critical to “put yourselves in the shoes of the Saudis.”
Not that Cohen thought that Israeli-Saudi normalization is immediate.
“They [Saudi-Arabia] need to always check the temperature about whether the Muslim world will forgive them.”
Yossi Cohen
The former Mossad chief said the Saudis will move forward with Israel slowly and carefully since as the keepers of Islam’s holiest sites, “they need to always check the temperature about whether the Muslim world will forgive them,” for jumping forward with Israel.
Next, he said, “There are still some big questions we need to cope with,” including the Russia-Ukraine War.
Essentially, he said that just as that war could go on indefinitely if no honest broker comes forward to seal a ceasefire, the same inertia could unnecessarily drag out how long it takes for the Jewish state and Riyadh to reach a deal.
On the positive side, Cohen said that within Israel and in Saudi Arabia, “there are courageous leaders on both sides who know how to get to normalization.”
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