Middle East Monitor / October 2, 2023
More than half of Israeli citizens support normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia but without letting it enrich uranium, a poll published by Israeli Kan Channel 11 revealed on Sunday. Fifty-six per cent of respondents supported the proposed normalization, while 39 per cent of them do not agree with allowing it to enrich uranium.
The poll found that 12 per cent of Israelis do not support normalizing links, and 32 per cent do not know whether they support it or not.
Among supporters of the ruling coalition, 63 per cent support an agreement, and only nine per cent oppose it. However, 67 per cent of Likud Party voters support normalization, with 11 per cent of them opposing. Israeli opposition supporters who responded to the poll had a majority — 58 per cent — who support the deal with Saudi Arabia, and just 16 per cent do not.
On Saturday, a Saudi newspaper said that Riyadh is not in a rush to establish relations with Israel under US sponsorship. This came despite remarks by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to Fox News last week in which he said his country was getting “closer” to signing a deal with Israel.
