Before meeting Trump, Saudi Arabia restates its terms for relations with Israel
U.S. President Donald Trump has been touting the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, but such a deal appears unlikely when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House later this month, News.Az citing the NewsArab.
Formal ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia after decades of hostility would significantly reshape Middle East politics and security — and potentially bolster U.S. influence in the region.
Trump said last month he hoped Saudi Arabia would "very soon" join other Muslim countries that signed the 2020 Abraham Accords normalising ties with Israel.
But Riyadh has signalled to Washington through diplomatic channels that its position has not changed: it will sign up only if there is agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood, Reuters reported- citing two Gulf sources.
The intention is to avoid diplomatic missteps and ensure alignment of the Saudi and U.S. positions before any public statements are made, they said. One said the aim was to avoid any confusion at or after the White House talks on November 18.
The Crown Prince, widely known as MbS, "is not likely to entertain any possible formalising of ties in the near future without at least a credible pathway to a Palestinian state," said Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy U.S. national intelligence officer on the Middle East.
MbS is likely to try to use his influence with Trump to seek "more explicit and vocal buy-in for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state," said Panikoff, who is now at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
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