Saudi Arabia and Israel continue to inch towards normalized ties. At the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed that Saudi Arabia and Israel are “at the cusp” of normalizing relations. In recent weeks, two Israeli ministers have visited Riyadh: the first was the Israeli tourism minister to attend a United Nations World Tourism Organization conference, while the second was the Israeli Communications Minister attending the Universal Postal Union (UPU) conference.
Prospects of a Saudi-Israel deal continue to show value against checking the threat of Iran and her allies. The recent reactions of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling Muslim countries that normalize relations with Israel equivalent to “betting on a losing horse” shows that Iran is indeed scared.
But according to a recent report, both Saudi and Israeli officials have recognized that while they can bridge other issues, the one that will destroy the talks is the Biden administration’s continued obsession with Palestinian nationhood.
And the Biden administration continues to steamroll down that path. President Biden said at UN that his administration continues “to work tirelessly to support a just and lasting peace between…the Israelis and Palestinians — two states for two people.” And twenty Senate Democrats are pressuring the Biden administration to pre-condition any Saudi deal with significant advancement towards a two state solution.
The Saudi position on a Palestinian state remains open and pragmatic. On the surface, it appears otherwise, as the Saudi Foreign minister stated that the country’s goal was to have a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, Saudi Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was more ambiguous in a recent interview. While MbS emphasized that “the Palestinian issue is very important” and “we need to solve that part,” he did not call for statehood, instead emphasizing the need to “ease the life of the Palestinians.” This echoes recent reports in the Israeli press that Saudi Arabia is indeed prepared to forgo Palestinian statehood, and that Saudi Arabia would continue to negotiate with Israel and the United States if the Palestinian Authority would refuse to.
So what comes next? With continued focus on Palestinian statehood, the ever-elusive normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia remains the Biden Administration’s win to lose.
