"Many" people in Saudi Arabia want normalized relations with Israel, voicing hope that the kingdom will join the Abraham Accords, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
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Pompeo, who served as former US President Donald Trump's CIA director and then top diplomat, made the comments in a recorded video address to the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, which will give him its inaugural Global Leadership Award on Monday.
Under the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump last year, four majority Arab states – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – agreed to establish ties with Israel.
The Israeli press was rife with speculation about other Arab nations interested in joining the pact, with powerhouse Saudi Arabia widely regarded as a top prize for the Jewish state.
"Predicting the future has proven a struggle for me," Pompeo said in remarks shared with Agence France-Presse, adding that he thinks "many more" countries will seek ties with Israel.
"I hope that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can find its way to join the Abraham Accords. I know that many inside that country want that to take place," he noted.
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Sources in Jerusalem have said Pompeo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in November in the Red Sea city of Neom.
The meeting, denied by Riyadh, fueled frenzied speculation in Israel that a normalization deal might be close.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
