Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is seen during a visit to Germany. Photo: Reuters/Christian Marquardt

i24 News – Israel’s potential normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia could be the key to “true regional harmony,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote in an op-ed published on Tuesday evening in the Wall Street Journal.

In an opinion piece for the American outlet, Israel’s top diplomat argued that, “a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia will be a diplomatic achievement that may shape the basis for true regional harmony, which will lead other countries to strive for peace.”

Cohen added that an agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, which would be a key component to any normalization agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem, would include an American guarantee to help maintain the security of Gulf countries from Iran, similar to an agreement Washington has with South Korea, who faces threats from Pyongyang.

“Saudi Arabia presented to the United States, which mediates between the parties, several demands, among them maintaining its security in the face of Iranian aggression.”

The foreign minister’s comments in the Wall Street Journal came just two days after he said Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman “will make history,” during a rare interview with the Elaph newspaper from Saudi Arabia.

In his interview with the Saudi outlet, Cohen told Elaph that “the Palestinian issue will not be an obstacle to peace with Saudi Arabia, and the current government will take practical steps to improve the Palestinian economy.”

Cohen referenced a trilateral deal between the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel, that would see a normalization agreement between the Saudi Kingdom and the Jewish State, which also reportedly required the Israelis to take “real steps” toward ending the conflict with the Palestinians.

“Iran is our common enemy,” Cohen continued, saying peace with the Saudis “will be for the benefit of the people of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and for the benefit of the Jewish people and the Muslim people.”

Cohen’s comments in both Saudi and American media came amid a push by U.S. President Joe Biden to broker a historic normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish state.

American political commentators speculate that the Biden Administration would like to announce an agreement before the 2024 Presidential campaign consumes Biden’s schedule in the coming months.