Israel to push arms sale to Saudis during Biden visit: reports

Israel will try pushing for a 'huge' arms deal with Saudi Arabia during US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region this month, Israeli broadcaster Kan has reported.

Israel will take advantage of Biden’s visit to promote the sale of air defence systems to the kingdom, the report said. Biden is expected to visit a number of military bases in Israel including the Palmachim base near Tel Aviv.

Biden is expected to visit the occupied West Bank, Israel and Saudi Arabia, amid an unsteady relation with the latter.

The potential arms deal will have a great economic impact on Israel and comes in light of growing tensions with Iran, Kan added.

Do you think Saudi Arabia is heading for normalisation with Israel? #AbrahamAccords https://t.co/dncahdlcZD

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) June 19, 2022

The Channel 12 news channel reported late last month that Israel will push the US to approve the sale of a new laser air defence system to Arab countries including Saudi Arabia.

While Saudi Arabia and Israel have no diplomatic relations, there have been numerous reports to suggest that the two countries are cooperating on security issues, including on Iran.

In December, an Israeli newspaper reported that Israel rejected a proposed arms deal from the United Arab Emirates due to Abu Dhabi’s rapprochement with Iran.

The UAE and Israel established ties in 2020.