One of the goals of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel was to disrupt efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish state, President Biden said Friday. 

“One of the reasons why they acted like they did, why Hamas moved on Israel, is because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Biden, 80, said at a campaign fundraising event in Washington. 

“Because the Saudis wanted to recognize Israel and that would in fact unite the Middle East,” he added. 

Since 2020, Israel has reached diplomatic breakthroughs with several Muslim-majority nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, but Saudi Arabia has yet to recognize Israeli sovereignty. 

Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 raid, which killed over 1,000 people in southern Israel, came amid recent talks aimed at thawing relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh as part of a trilateral agreement with the US. 

The deal that had been taking shape was aimed at increasing Middle East stability, pushing back against the Iranian nuclear threat – Iran is a fierce rival of Saudi Arabia –  and increased economic cooperation.  

Amid the talks, Iran’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that any countries attempting to normalize relations with Israel “will suffer losses.”

Diplomatic negotiations pertaining to a possible Saudi-Israel deal have paused since the Oct. 7 attack, according to Bloomberg. 

Biden’s comment comes on the same day the White House asked Congress to authorize roughly $14 billion to support Israel’s air and missile defense systems and for other weapons purchases in its war against Hamas. 

The money is part of a broader $106 billion funding request for Ukraine, humanitarian relief in Gaza and Israel, US border security and measures to counter China. 

Also on Friday, Biden appeared to answer, “yes,” when asked by a reporter whether Israel should delay a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in an effort to free more hostages being held by Hamas terrorists.

However, a White House spokesperson said the president “didn’t hear the full question.” 

“The question sounded like ‘Would you like to see more hostages released?’ He wasn’t commenting on anything else,” White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said, according to Reuters.