Isaac Herzog: Israel wants peace with Saudi Arabia, Iran conflict is unsurprising

President Isaac Herzog said that his dream is to see peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia in a Thursday interview with Saudi Arabia's state-owned Al-Arabiya about the unfolding situation with Iran and the prospect of normalization in the region."It is my dream to see peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. I have great respect for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman,” said Herzog. “The thing that we want most in Israel is to see rapprochement between the nations.”“The dialogue between Jerusalem and Mecca should be the real gist of it, because I believe Jew and Muslim need to dwell together in this region in peace. I guess I can't come to Riyadh just as an ordinary citizen, but I hope to be able to realize this dream and meet the Saudi Arabian leadership officially in due course.”Further, he praised the US renewal of strikes against Iran earlier this week.“I'm happy that the American reaction is firm so that everybody understands, especially the Iranians, that they have to go back on track if they really want to implement an exit from the war,” he said. Iran, in response, launched strikes against several countries in the region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. Herzog noted that he is “not surprised” by the strikes and the rapidly fraying US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as it follows the “Iranian pattern of behavior, which we know, it is impossible to do deals.”“They violate them all the time. They have their own way of interpreting things that are very, very clear.”On the Abraham Accords, Herzog said that Israel is very happy and proud of its relations with Morocco, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates “which is just an example of how successful it can be.”Herzog on Israel-US relationsIn a similar vein, Herzog discussed Israel's long-time relationship with the United States.“There is a close and good dialogue, especially in closed rooms. We can have our differences, it's only natural, but in the end, they're tactical,” he explained. “We all understand that we are faced with an empire of evil in Tehran, with its proxies, with its belief that the United States is the big Satan and Israel is the small Satan.”Herzog said that he respects US President Donald Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the entire Trump administration. “We work closely with them on many issues, and I believe that the grand picture, which the United States should push with Europe and others, is the connectivity between the East and the West.”