Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Niger would likely be the next Arab country to normalize ties with Israel, according to a report published by the Israeli Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper on Friday.

The Yedioth Ahronoth mentioned that the Israeli ministry of intelligence Eli Cohen believed there would be a breakthrough in secret communications to conclude the normalization agreement between the two countries, in case if former interior minister and president of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya) Mohamed Bazoum won the December 27 presidential election.

“The forthcoming election in Niger will be essential in terms of moving forward normalization between the Tel Aviv regime and Niamey,” Cohen said.

Presidential elections are expected to take place next month. The most prominent candidates in this election are Bazoum, and the leader of the ruling military council General Salou Djibo.