Benjamin Netanyahu denies the report in Haaretz: "Complete lie"

The Prime Minister's Office vehemently denies the report in Haaretz this evening: "The report about an Israeli commitment to allow a 'path towards a Palestinian state' is a complete lie. Prime Minister Netanyahu has acted and continues to act against the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel's security."

Earlier, the newspaper's diplomatic correspondent, Haim Levinson, reported that a significant breakthrough had been made in the negotiations for a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, which is expected to come hand in hand with a hostage deal.

According to the report, Israel and Saudi Arabia, which had been in prolonged negotiations towards a historic normalization agreement between the countries that cooled during the war, have forged a new path towards the deal. Since October 7, the Saudi kingdom has significantly escalated its tone towards Israel, even accusing it of war crimes. Additionally, it has announced that it will not agree to normalization without official recognition of a Palestinian state.

Levinson claims that the parties have now reached a new formula, in which Israel will commit to providing the Palestinians with "a path towards a Palestinian state" instead of official recognition. This is an ambiguous formulation that does not necessarily obligate Israel to concrete actions on the ground.

Following this, it is reported that Netanyahu is conducting the negotiations outside the framework of the political-security cabinet through Minister Ron Dermer.