newspaper reportedThe New York TimesQuoting an informed person, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, plays a direct role in the US-led negotiations for a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The American newspaper reported that the most active Saudi figure in those negotiations is the Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington, Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan.
Two people familiar with the matter also said that the US negotiations are being led by the National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, and Biden’s chief aide for global energy issues, Amos Hochstein.
was a newspaperWall Street JournalOn Thursday, she revealed that Saudi Arabia is seeking security pledges and nuclear assistance from the United States in exchange for normalization with Israel.
The newspaper quoted people familiar with the discussions between the two countries, saying that Riyadh had asked Washington to provide security guarantees and help develop its civil nuclear program, in conjunction with the United States seeking to mediate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and Israel.
The newspaper added that reaching a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia has become a priority for US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in light of a possible confrontation with Iran.
An American newspaper reveals two Saudi demands from Washington for normalization with Israel
The Wall Street Journal revealed, Thursday, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is seeking to obtain security pledges and nuclear assistance from the United States in exchange for normalization with Israel.
Officials and experts in the United States and the Middle East were divided over how seriously to deal with Saudi requests, given the frosty relations between Biden and Mohammed bin Salman.
The New York Times indicates that there are several challenges that stand in the way of a possible Saudi-Israeli peace deal, which will be within the framework of the Abraham Treaty, which was mediated by the administration of former President Donald Trump, and resulted in full diplomatic relations between Israel and 4 Arab countries, including the UAE and Bahrain.
The escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians under the new right-wing government in the country in recent weeks highlights the most prominent of these challenges.
The Saudi government has issued repeated public condemnations of the Israeli actions, which reduces the likelihood of a deal being reached in the near term, according to the newspaper.
Analysts say a major escalation, such as a new Palestinian uprising, will make reaching an agreement impossible.
Saudi officials said they could not establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel until a Palestinian state was established.
But some people familiar with the discussions said they believed the Saudis, who are building closer informal relations with Israel, would settle for less, according to the New York Times.
“It’s interesting for a number of reasons,” said Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel who served during the Clinton administration.
He added that Netanyahu “wants it badly and can only get it with Biden’s help. This creates a situation in which Biden has influence over Netanyahu to convince him that nothing good can happen with Saudi Arabia if he allows the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to explode.”
Indyk noted that Biden would also see full normalization between the two countries as in the interest of the United States, particularly as a way to counter Iranian influence.
Biden administration officials have long said their goal is to build on the Abraham Accords signed in the summer of 2020.
People familiar with the discussions told The New York Times that it is not clear what terms of the security agreement Riyadh would like, but it is likely that it will not amount to a mutual defense guarantee like those binding NATO countries.
Even if Biden were willing to fulfill Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s terms for normalization with Israel, he would likely face stiff resistance in Congress, where several Democrats have recently pushed to downgrade relations with Saudi Arabia.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council declined to comment directly on the diplomatic discussions, but said the Biden administration supports closer ties between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a New York Times request for comment. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to the newspaper’s questions about the discussions.
Abdulaziz Al-Ghashyan, a Saudi researcher who studies his country’s policy toward Israel, said that given the difficult relationship, the Saudi offer could be interpreted as a “rhetorical move.”
The New York Times indicates that the goal may be to put Biden in the awkward position of refusing to present an agreement that Israel desperately wants, an outcome that could disappoint the hopes of politically influential American Jewish groups.
Al-Ghashian said it was unlikely that Saudi officials would actually facilitate a major foreign policy win for President Biden, given their grievances with his administration.
He added that the Saudi leadership does not want the credit for Saudi-Israeli normalization to be attributed to Biden as president of the United States, but they do not mind that Biden take the blame for the lack of an agreement.