Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated on Sunday that "Israel will launch a railway project worth 100 billion shekels (27 billion dollars), to expand the current network and connect distant areas on the outskirts with Tel Aviv." Netanyahu stated: "I would like to add that in the future we will also be able to transport goods by train from Eilat to the Mediterranean Sea, and we will also be able to connect Israel to Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula via the railway." He added: "This could provide land connections with Saudi Arabia in the future."
On his part, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset and a prominent member of the Likud party, Yuli Edelstein, noted that "any establishment of relations with Saudi Arabia does not seem imminent, despite U.S. President Joe Biden's prediction last week of a potential rapprochement between the two sides." He added: "I think it is still very early to talk about working on a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia." Edelstein expressed: "How can I phrase it politely? There are much more significant and problematic items than announcements here and there on the Palestinian side." He continued: "Most of the Saudi dialogue is with the Americans and not with us. There are some things we can coexist with better than others, and certain demands from Riyadh regarding Washington that we do not coexist with in the same way."
President Biden sent Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, on the latest diplomatic mission seeking to forge ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
