Netanyahu Says US Must ‘Reaffirm’ Alliance With Saudi Arabia

Israel’s incoming prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that the US must “reaffirm” its alliance with Saudi Arabia and that he will seek normalization with Riyadh once in office.

“I think that the alliance, the traditional (US) alliance with Saudi Arabia and other countries, has to be reaffirmed. There should not be periodic swings, or even wild swings in this relationship, because I think that the alliance between America’s allies and with America is the anchor of stability in our region,” Netanyahu told Al-Arabiya English.

Netanyahu’s comments come after the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress called for a change in the US-Saudi relationship in response to OPEC+ oil production cuts in October. But the administration has taken no concrete steps toward that end and worked this week to sabotage a war powers resolution that would have ended US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.