Then-Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi — who currently serves as Israel’s national security adviser — attending a session of the International Donor Group for Palestine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, January 31, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

i24 News — Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi revealed on Monday that talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) were advancing, through Jordan, on the normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.

“This is the first dialogue of its kind in about a decade where representatives of the countries talk very openly about what they want,” Hanegbi said during a conference at the Reichman University’s Anti-Terrorism Policy Institute.

“This time they [the PA] will not let these agreements slip from under their hands,” the senior Israeli official said. “We are in favor of a ‘significant Palestinian component,’ provided that there is no harm to Israel’s security.”

“The Americans first defined reaching an agreement as a long-shot — a few weeks ago they defined its chances as 50:50,” Nanegbi said in reference to the US-mediated normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.

“In the last weeks and days, we think that the American definition is that these are significant chances,” he added, calling it no longer a shot in the dark.

Nanegbi then highlighted a trade corridor agreement, announced at the G20, which would link the EU with India through Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The senior Israeli official also threatened the PA, saying “the day a decision is made in a legal forum against a fighter, commander, or officer of ours — we will sever political and security ties with the Palestinian Authority immediately.”

“We will not ask the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers to protect them from [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad or Hamas,” Nanegbi warned, referring to Palestinian terrorist groups.

“They [the PA] also live in Judea and Samaria, and IDF soldiers also maintain the existence of the Palestinian Authority. If we don’t do it, their fate will be like in Gaza where they were thrown from the roofs. You have been warned,” he concluded.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was also at the conference, indicating “if a Saudi deal will be a good deal we will support it without any political consideration.”

However, the opposition figure that heads the National Unity Party also provided terms, stating, “We have to carefully check every aspect of such a deal before approving it to make sure that the strategic interests of the state of Israel are kept.”