PM Netanyahu says Israel will seek peace with more Arab countries after war

In a speech to the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he plans to pursue peace agreements with more Arab countries after Israel’s military objectives are achieved in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

“The day after Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer sits on our northern border, we are working these days on plans to stabilize those two fronts,” Netanyahu said according to a Reuters report.

After these goals are accomplished, he said, Israel would continue peace efforts in the region.

“I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with more Arab countries,” the prime minister added.

Specifically, Netanyahu indicated that Israel would seek peace with nations who saw who “see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil. They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure and prosperous Middle East."

Netanyahu has publicly stated that Israel desires to secure a peace treaty with Saudi Arabia, saying in a recent United Nations speech that “a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel seemed closer than ever” before the war with Hamas broke out.

During the UN speech, Netanyahu underscored that such a peace agreement “would usher in a historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel” and “would be the foundation for an even broader Abrahamic alliance – and that alliance would include the United States, Israel’s current Arab peace partners, Saudi Arabia, and others who choose the blessing of peace.”