Former senior Biden official says Netanyahu missed opportunity for Saudi normalization, hopes mistake won't be repeated

A former senior Biden administration official, Amos Hochstein, claimed in an interview with Israeli media which aired on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed an opportunity in 2024 to secure a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu has previously argued that he seeks a normalization agreement with the Saudis. 

“I don’t understand the decision not to grab that opportunity as the most important strategic move Israel can make,” Hochstein said in an interview with Israeli Channel 13’s investigative program “Hamakor.” 

“I think it was missed before. I hope Israel doesn’t miss that opportunity moving forward — even if it means doing things that politically are uncomfortable,” the former Biden official continued. 

The potential deal with the Saudis reportedly required Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire with the terrorist organization Hamas and publicly embrace a path towards the eventual implementation of the internationally favored two-state solution.

However, the Netanyahu government refused to publicly endorse a two-state solution following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, arguing that it would constitute a reward for an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel. In addition, Netanyahu’s far-right wing partners are ideologically opposed to the idea of an independent Arab state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. 

The supposed proposal further envisioned that Washington, and its Arab allies would isolate Hamas politically and promote a “reformed” Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. 

However, Netanyahu quickly rejected the idea, vowing that neither Hamas nor Fatah would be permitted to rule post-war Gaza due to both organization’s terrorism and opposition to Israel’s existence. 

Hochstein also recalled that he was tasked to convey a message to the powerful Iranian-backed terrorist militia Hezbollah in Lebanon to stay out of the Hamas-initiated Oct. 7 war. 

“I was asked to send a message to Hezbollah: ‘Whatever just happened, do not enter this conflict. If you do, the rules of the game change, and if you mess with this, you’ll be messing with us – the United States,'” he revealed. 

However, Hezbollah ignored the Biden administration’s warnings and launched an unprovoked attack on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones against Israel, killing dozens of Israelis and forcing tens of thousands of northern Israeli residents to evacuate their homes for over a year. 

Israel responded by eliminating thousands of Hezbollah operatives, most senior Hezbollah commanders including the terror militia’s top leader Hassan Nasrallah. A severely degraded Hezbollah eventually reluctantly accepted an internationally brokered ceasefire in late November 2024. 

The investigative Israeli program also interviewed Biden’s former national security advisor Jake Sullivan who criticized Netanyahu for questioning the Biden administration’s support for Israel amid the war with Iran and its terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. 

“Having the prime minister of Israel question the support of the United States after all that we did – do I think that was a right and proper thing for a friend to do? I do not,” Sullivan said. While not hiding his frustration with Netanyahu, the former Biden official nevertheless emphasized that he backed continued U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself. 

“[However], I will always stand firm behind the idea that Israel has a right to defend itself and that the United States has a responsibility to help Israel, and I’ll do that no matter who the prime minister is, no matter what they say about me or the US or the president that I work for,” Sullivan emphasized 

However, he admitted that Biden “did raise his concerns that a ground operation in Gaza that was disconnected from any kind of strategic endpoint [and] could end up creating huge problems for Israel.” 

The Israeli TV program also interviewed several other former Biden administration officials who criticized the Netanyahu government while arguing that they backed Israel’s right to defend itself.