TEL AVIV — Meeting in Jerusalem with US Sen. Lindsey Graham on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel wants normalization and peace with Saudi Arabia. "We view [normalization] as perhaps a giant leap toward ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. This agreement could have monumental consequences, historic consequences both for Israel, for Saudi Arabia, for the region and for the world," said Netanyahu, reiterating his election campaign mantra that he was working to expand the circle of peace and add more countries to the 2020 Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu’s optimism on Saudi Arabia was met with skepticism by Israeli security officials. "The strangest thing," a former senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "is that despite all the writing on the wall and flashing red warning lights, Netanyahu continues to talk about ‘expanding the circle of peace’ and the option that Israel will soon add Saudi Arabia to the Abraham Accords, partially or completely."

The official's remarks were prompted by reports that a delegation of senior Hamas members was heading to Saudi Arabia this week in yet another dramatic sign of the recent Tehran-Riyadh rapprochement. As he spoke, reports emerged that the Saudis were outraged by the leak of this rare visit and either postponed or canceled it. Still, one way or another, it is clear that Saudi Arabia is switching sides from a firm stand in the American-Israeli camp toward the Iran-led "axis of resistance" of which the Islamist Gaza-based Hamas is a respected member.

Saudi Arabia and Iran renewed diplomatic relations last month, and the Hamas delegation visit would have been the first to the kingdom in almost a decade. In parallel, Riyadh has been also busy rehabilitating its ties with Damascus. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is set to visit Syria on Tuesday, the first official visit since the beginning of the war in Syria.