Aides of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nearly called doctors fearing for his health, after he exploded at Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over disparaging remarks he made about Saudis.
Netanyahu went into a frenzy after he heard that the far-right minister tell a conference that if asked to recognise a Palestinian state in return for normalisation with Riyadh, he would tell the Saudis they should “keep riding camels".
Netanyahu is reportedly concerned Smotrich's disparaging comments could kill any prospect of normalisation with Saudi Arabia and was so angry in a meeting that aides feared he would collapse, right-wing MK Avigdor Liberman said.
“Someone who was in the room told me that after Smotrich’s comment about the camels, the shouting from the Prime Minister’s Office could be heard in Kedumim and all the settlements in Samaria (occupied West Bank),” he told Israeli outlet Walla.
"Bibi screamed. They wanted to call a doctor because they feared he would faint. No one has heard shouting like that since the Prime Minister’s Office was established. It is no coincidence that Smotrich rushed to apologise. Netanyahu is counting on an agreement with Saudi Arabia."
Netanyahu is reportedly hoping to add Saudi Arabia to the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation agreements with Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, with progress completely stalled during the brutal war on Gaza.
Smotich, a key leader in the settler movement, has strongly opposed any recognition of a Palestinian state and wants the creation of a Greater Israel covering the 1948 Palestinian territories, Gaza, and the West Bank.
Saudi Arabia has insisted it would only recognise Israel if an independent Palestinian state was created, something that Smotrich has strongly rejected.
“If Saudi Arabia tells us ‘normalisation in exchange for a Palestinian state,’ friends - no thank you. Keep riding camels in the desert in Saudi Arabia, and we will continue to develop with the economy, society and state and the great things that we know how to do,” Smotrich told a conference.
These comments led to anger among the Israeli opposition, who see normalisation with Saudi Arabia as the key to the country's integration into the MENA region. Most Arab countries have no relations with Israel, but would be open to doing so if a Palestinian state is created.
Smotrich was forced to make a humiliating apology after his comments, no doubt related to Netanyahu's angry outburst.
"My comment about Saudi Arabia was absolutely inappropriate, and I apologise for the insult it caused,” he said.
"I expect from the Saudis not to do us harm and not to deny our heritage, our tradition and the rights of the Jewish people to its historic homelands in Judea and Samaria, and to establish true peace with us."