Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi on Thursday met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf in Jerusalem. 

Leaf expressed Washington’s condolences to the people of Israel after the recent terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Eli where four civilians were killed. 

“The parties discussed ways to prevent a security escalation in the region following the recent terrorist incidents, including by promoting the meetings of the "Pentagram Forum" that convened this year in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh,” an official statement said. 

“In addition, the parties discussed efforts to expand the "Abraham Agreements". Leaf shared her official statement from her last visit to Saudi Arabia, and the government's willingness to act to advance the process,” it added. 

The meeting came amid an escalation of the security situation in the West Bank and ongoing efforts of the U.S. to negotiate a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Earlier in June, Leaf told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that Saudi-Israeli normalization “is an end goal for us” and “it’s fair to say the crown prince [of Saudi Arabia] has been very candid… that that is very much on his mind.” 

However, she noted that “there’s a lot of misreporting and a lot of hyperventilation in the press” regarding speculations that the parties were close to reaching the agreement.