A senior Israeli official on Friday blamed the previous government for the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran on restoring diplomatic ties between the countries.
Speaking to reporters who traveled with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Rome, the senior official said that the agreement is also a result of weakness towards Iran by the US and the West.
"The Saudis recognized a weakness by the West and Israel," said the official, who added the Saudis "felt exposed and were looking for other avenues."
In addition, he clarified that the stronger the position of the West becomes, the less significant the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran will be.
The official estimated, "This will not make it difficult for the Abraham Accords to continue. What will determine this is not the formal relationship, but the strength and determination that Saudi Arabia recognizes on the Western side. The greater the determination they recognize, the more this will lead to Saudi conduct that we will be satisfied with."
Responding to the claims, the opposition said, "During the time of our government, the aviation agreement with Saudi Arabia, the tripartite security agreement with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the agreement on direct flights in Hajj were signed."
Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid later tweeted, “When the Americans almost signed an agreement with Iran, our government dropped every other issue, we focused on it, we worked, we convened, we met, we worked on it 24/7."
“Now Iran wants to go nuclear, enriches uranium to 84%, closes an agreement with Saudi Arabia and the fully right-wing government? Not Iran, not terrorist attacks, not the economy, not the cost of living. All they care about is destroying democracy and tearing the people apart. Oh, and weekends in Rome too.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)