Netanyahu asked by MKs not to make concessions to Palestinians

At least 12 Likud MKs have sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning him against making concessions to Saudi Arabia in US-brokered normalisation talks, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

The MKs from his own party sent the letter two hours before Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“We will agree to peace only in exchange for peace,” said the signatories, amid reports that Riyadh is demanding major concessions to the Palestinians as a condition of normalised relations with the apartheid state. “There can be no concessions on the homeland.”

The Knesset members told the Israeli leader that he has their backing to present a strong position ahead of his meeting with the US president and world leaders: “Israel stands by its rights irrespective of attempts to make peace with Arab nations.”

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein and former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon are among the signatories.

READ: Biden, Netanyahu pledge to work toward Israel-Saudi normalisation