Netanyahu prepared to quit in return for Israel-Saudi peace deal – report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday denied ultra-Orthodox reports he was preparing for the collapse of his government in return for a US-backed normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.

According to a report published in the Agudat Yisrael-affiliated haredi paper HaModia on Friday morning, Netanyahu had resigned to the fact that “his political career is nearing an end.”

Netanyahu, in accordance with White House officials, will receive the long-awaited Saudi normalization deal and plea bargain for his criminal trials for his resignation, with the understanding being that he “does not have the capacity to manage the country in Israel’s current political state,” as per the report.

The prime minister is reportedly committed to “making any deal with the Saudis possible, even at the price of toppling his own government,” HaModia added.

Netanyahu’s Likud: Ultra-Orthodox report is a farfetched fabrication

The prime minister’s Likud faction hit back against the report on Friday, stating unequivocally that that report in the ultra-Orthodox newspaper is nothing but a “farfetched fabrication.”

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset. (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

“There was never any commitment or request made to change the current make-up of the government [in relation to the normalization deal with Saudi Arabia].

“This government will fulfill its tenure regardless of the prime minister’s attempts to widen Israel’s circle of peace,” the Likud statement read.