Saudi played role in Morocco-Israel normalization: Report

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, Israel’s Channel 12 TV reported on Friday that Riyadh was involved in the deal, without elaborating on details. The report also said it was “very possible” that Saudi Arabia would be prepared to normalize relations with Tel Aviv soon. In a sign of Saudi support, a prominent newspaper associated with the kingdom’s royal family put the Morocco-Israel accord on its front page, according to the report. Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 13 TV reported that Saudi Arabia was working together with the outgoing administration of US President Donald Trump to get several other countries to sign deals with Israel, possibly before president-elect Joe Biden takes office next month. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was following the matter closely in a bid to prepare the ground for an eventual Saudi-Israel deal, the report said, speculating that Oman and Indonesia would be next to establish ties with Israel. On Thursday, Trump tweeted that Morocco had decided to normalize relations with Israel after Washington agreed to recognize Rabat’s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Morocco became the fourth Arab country to take such a controversial step in the past few months.   In mid-September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed normalization pacts with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani during an official ceremony hosted by Trump at the White House. The following month, Trump said Israel and Sudan had also established economic ties as a pathway toward normalized ties. After Trump’s announcement on Morocco's normalization with Israel, his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, said that an Israel-Saudi agreement was inevitable and that the only issue that had to be worked out was the timeframe. “Israel and Saudi Arabia coming together and having full normalization at this point is an inevitability, but the timeframe… is something that has to be worked out,” he told reporters, noting that such a deal would require “strong US leadership in the region.” Palestinians have condemned the normalization agreements with the Tel Aviv regime as a treacherous "stab in the back" of their cause against the Israeli occupation. Morocco-Israel normalization 'betrayal' of Palestine On Friday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special assistant to the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, denounced Rabat’s decision to establish relations with Israel. “Morocco announcing normalizing relations with the fake entity occupying Jerusalem al-Quds is a betrayal and a stab in the back of Palestinian resistance,” he tweeted. "Certainly, the Zionists will have no place in the future of the region." US to sell $1bn worth of weapons to Morocco In a separate development on Friday, the White House notified Congress of potential weapons sales to Morocco worth $1 billion. The deal includes four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones as well as Hellfire, Paveway and JDAM precision-guided munitions, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the notification.