Davos, Switzerland. Normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia is a key element of ending the war with Hamas and a game changer for the entire Middle East, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss town of Davos.

“It’s still delicate, it’s fragile, and it will take a long time, but I think that it is actually an opportunity to move forward in the world and the region towards a better future,” Herzog said.

It comes days after Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said on a Davos panel that the kingdom agreed “regional peace includes peace for Israel.” He said Saudi Arabia “certainly” would recognize Israel as part of a larger political agreement.

“But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state,” he said.

US Secretary Antony Blinken also reiterated in a talk at Davos that a pathway to statehood for Palestinians could help improve Israel’s security and its relations with other countries in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government, however, are opposed to the concept of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Herzog, whose ceremonial role is meant to serve as a national unifier, said public support for it is low because traumatized Israelis are focused on their own safety following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 rampage. He displayed a photo of Kfar Bibas, the youngest Israeli held hostage in Gaza whose first birthday is Thursday.

“When nations come forward and say ‘two-state solution,’ they have to first deal with a preliminary question, which is a core question for human beings: Are we offered real safety?” Herzog said. “Israelis lost trust in the peace process because they could see that terror is glorified by our neighbors.”

Herzog also used the world stage to stress the global implications of Hamas' attack on Israel, which he said is just one of the proxies of the “empire of evil emanating from Tehran.”

Amid the conflict in Gaza, Iran has taken military action against what it called an Israeli intelligence operation in neighboring Iraq. Iran-backed rebels in Yemen known as Houthis also have upended global shipping by attacking vessels in the Red Sea, triggering a series of retaliatory strikes from the US and Britain.

“The Houthi issue is a number one priority, because it raises the cost of living for every family in the universe, a little tribe of 50,000 people, amassed with the weapons of an empire,” Herzog said.

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian insisted Iran’s strike in Iraq, as well as against an alleged militant base in Pakistan, as part of his country’s right to self-defense and accused Israel of “genocide” in its campaign against Hamas, which has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also condemned the war in Gaza during a Davos talk Thursday, saying “the international community has failed.”

At the same time, Sudani sought to balance Iraq’s position between the United States and Iran during the war and as Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched near-daily strikes on bases housing USforces in Iraq and Syria, which they have said is in retaliation for Washington’s backing of Israel.

Sudani said Iraq has “interests” and “strategic partnerships” with both Iran and the United States. But he did reiterate calls for US-led coalition forces to withdraw from his country, saying their presence is no longer justified because their mission was to fight the Islamic State group, which is “no longer a threat to the Iraqi people.”

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