No Riyadh Without Ramallah: Israel Must Now Offer a Diplomatic Horizon - and Hope
Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinians came to set up a caucus in the Knesset. No, that isn't the start of a joke or an end-of-days vision. It actually happened last week with the launch of a caucus to promote a regional security arrangement – a multiparty initiative conducted in cooperation with nonparliamentary organizations.
The conference launching the party – which was attended by leaders of the two largest opposition parties, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, as well as former defense officials and diplomats, ambassadors and businesspeople – was held against the backdrop of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington and the stalled negotiations on a hostage deal. Disastrously, what now seems to be emerging is another partial deal instead of one that would end the war.
Members of various opposition parties who sat around the table shared a regional diplomatic vision – promoting historic peace agreements that would shore up Israel's security and create a moderate axis against Iran's. But unlike Netanyahu, who wants to have his cake and eat it too, everyone in that room understood that no deal would be signed with Riyadh that bypasses Ramallah.hould help shape a new Syria. But it must do so carefully, quietly and quickly
Journalist and pundit Abdulaziz Alkhamis, perhaps the first Saudi ever to set foot in the Knesset, stressed that if Israel used the current moment to intensify the occupation and humiliate the Gaza Strip, it would lose Saudi Arabia and the entire Arab world.
Shadi Martini, former director of a hospital in Aleppo who ran the Syrian side of Israel's humanitarian aid operation there, said millions of citizens had changed their opinion of Israel due to that operation, adding it was unclear what Israel wanted to achieve in Syria. "Israel needs to explain what's the end game here," he stressed.
Martini talked about his meeting two weeks ago with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which was also attended by a rabbi and a priest (another joke turned real). He quoted Al-Sharaa as saying, with regard to Israel, that "We only have these opportunities one time every 100 years. It's a very unique opportunity, but the window will not always stay open."
Hiba Qasas, the head of Uniting for a Shared Future, a group comprising hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians, said that no regional agreement would last if it didn't address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She added that a functional Palestinian Authority is a necessary counterweight to Hamas.
And we, members of different opposition parties who don't always see eye to eye on diplomatic issues, sought to forge a unified vision that would pose an alternative to Netanyahu's doctrine of diplomatic rejectionism – an end to the war in Gaza through a comprehensive deal that would bring all the hostages home, replace Hamas as Gaza's sovereign and lead to the territory's reconstruction. Such a deal would open the door to normalization agreements with many countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon, as long as they included a commitment to take steps that would lead to separation from the Palestinians.
Members of Syria's security forces load a rocket launcher near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.Credit: AFP/BAKR ALKASEM
It's possible, desirable and even essential to argue about the path to getting there, the pace at which things should happen and the security issues this will entail. Even among the three of us, there is no agreement on all issues.
Nevertheless, we seek to establish one point of consensus by establishing this caucus, which will continue during the next Knesset session – we're proposing the path of a diplomatic initiative alongside the military one as a counterweight to the governing coalition of zealots and diplomatic rejectionists.
The army's achievements in Lebanon and Iran created a rare window of opportunity in the Middle East, but our bloody entanglement in Gaza threatens to close it. Consequently, along with the internal battle over our home and the nature of our democracy, we must now offer a diplomatic horizon – a vision for foreign relations that will provide hope to its citizens and to all people in the region.
Gilad Kariv is an MK for the Democrats party. Ram Ben Barak is an MK for Yesh Atid. Alon Schuster is an MK for the National Unity Party.