Don't forget the Saudis and Iraelis were VERY close to a historic peace agreement.
It was touted as Israel on the cusp of historic peace with Saudi Arabia but stalled after October 7, 2023
There were 'flies in the ointment' though including Saudi Arabia's support for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to oppose the Palestinians’ right to a state of their own and therefore his country’s obligations toward the three-way deal.
US–Saudi negotiations have made headway but the Israel leg of this deal has fallen flat.
If no Saudi-Israeli normalization, the US Congress will not endorse a US–Saudi defence pact (the US Senate’s role in ratifying formal defence pacts between the US and foreign countries is indispensable) Indeed, in a rare moment of bipartisan consensus, Democrats and Republicans have agreed to move forward with a US–Saudi pact only if Saudi Arabia officially embraces Israel.
Originally Posted by Hollander
The Israeli-Saudi pact will happen, but now is not the time, it would be the best for USA and Europe.
WASHINGTON: The White House insists that it’s still possible to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the November 2024 US presidential election and says it’s working to complete the initiative, even as the Israel-Hamas war wages in Gaza.
“President Biden absolutely believes normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is possible, and he believes that it’s certainly possible to get it done before the end of his time as president,” says National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in an interview with The Times of Israel
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“Biden recognizes that there’s a lot of spade work that needs to be done before you can get there [but] that’s why we’re in Doha right now trying to get this ceasefire in place so that we can start to make some progress on larger regional issues” Kirby explains
Already in July however a lawmaker from each party told The Times of Israel that the window for the US to secure a normalization agreement before the presidential election had shut
The two congressional sources maintained that there is not enough time left in the congressional calendar for the Senate to hold the hearings necessary to approve the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to a deal with Israel
Last week, an Israeli diplomat speaking on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention agreed that a normalization deal won’t be possible before November but maintained that the window could re-open during the lame duck period
The official argued that it will be too difficult before the election for both parties in Congress to authorize the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to normalization with Israel
“After the election, it’ll be easier for both parties. There will be a better chance that Biden will bring the support of a Democratic majority and the Republican side will also support the [US-Saudi bilateral security pact] because of the normalization component” the Israeli diplomat maintained
Riyadh is conditioning normalization on Israel agreeing to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian state — a framework Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected and which if adopted, would likely cause his far-right coalition partners to bolt
Kirby says the Palestinian component of the deal is critical.
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“We have said from the beginning that as part of the normalization process, there has to be something in it for the Palestinians. That means there has to be something in it for the Palestinian Authority”
“The other thing that is baked into this process… is a reformed Palestinian Authority that can credibly look after the aspirations of all the Palestinian people” Kirby adds
