According to the report, Barnea met with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House ahead of the latter's trip to Saudi Arabia.
The Mossad Chief also met with Brett McGurk, the White House Middle East czar, and Amos Hochstein, Biden’s senior adviser for energy and infrastructure. The report pointed to the Saudi Arabia initiative as the main issue discussed during Barnea's meetings with the White House officials.
CIA director Bill Burns met with Barnea to discuss the Saudi initiative, as well as the Iran threat, one US source said.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson declined to comment specifically about the meeting between Sullivan and Barnea. “We continue to support for normalization with Israel, including with Saudi Arabia, and obviously continue to talk to our regional partners about how more progress can be made," the spokesperson said. "It’s one effort we are pursuing toward advancing US foreign policy goals for a more peaceful, secure, prosperous, and stable Middle East region."
The CIA declined to comment.
Earlier Monday, Israel Hayom reported that President Joe Biden is interested in brokering an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia by December, before election year starts.
At the same time, an Israeli official told Israel Hayom that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will not change his principle and historic position on the Palestinian issue for an agreement with Saudi Arabia." He explained that the way to achieve a breakthrough depends on the talks between Washington and Riyadh. "This is what the Saudis are requesting in exchange. The Palestinian issue is not on their priority list."
