- Israel and Saudi Arabia have maintained unofficial contacts but do not have official diplomatic relations.
- Biden has emphasized the necessity of restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
- It’s unclear what the conditions of any agreement may look like if it comes to fruition.
Saudi Arabia is looking to the US for security guarantees and assistance with its civilian nuclear program as a condition for normalizing relations with Israel, setting up a critical decision that could reshape the political situation in the Middle East.
The talks are still going on, and it’s unclear what the conditions of any agreement may look like if it comes to fruition.
Several members of Congress, who have called on the Biden administration to downgrade Washington’s ties with Riyadh, are expected to oppose increased security guarantees for Saudi Arabia.
Yet, President Joseph Biden has emphasized the necessity of restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as has Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who believes that improving relations between the two countries can assist increase security in the Middle East. For several years, Israel and Saudi Arabia have maintained unofficial contacts but do not have official diplomatic relations.
‘Better for everybody’
“The better the relations between Israel and their Arab neighbors, the better for everybody,” Biden said Friday at the end of a speech about the economy.
Israel has already established diplomatic relations with several Arab countries, including Morocco, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The Abraham Accords were a defining success of the Trump administration, and Biden has promised to build on them, especially while Iran’s nuclear program proceeds.
A spokeswoman for the US National Security Council declined to corroborate the Wall Street Journal’s story that Saudi Arabia was seeking security guarantees from the US.
Instead, John Kirby, the NSC’s strategic communications coordinator, highlighted Biden’s accomplishments on his summer visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Diplomacy prevails
“The President’s trip to the region accomplished a lot,” said Kirby, citing an agreement on contested Red Sea islands and a recent announcement by Oman it would allow Israeli overflights.
“We’re going to keep that diplomacy going,” he said.
A request for comment was not returned by the State Department. The Israeli Embassy in Washington was unavailable for comment.
The ramifications of an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia mediated by the US could be far-reaching. That would cast uncertainty on the future of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, which has recently seen increasing violence under Israel’s right-wing administration.
Normalizing relations, according to US officials, would also offer heft to a regional counterweight to Iran, which has progressed its nuclear enrichment over the last year.
Although the Saudi-led OPEC+ oil cartel suddenly declared it would cut output last year, Biden promised Saudi Arabia would face “consequences,” but the Biden administration has no plans to punish, let alone significantly realign its posture towards, the oil-rich Middle Eastern monarchy.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia and Iran declared the resumption of diplomatic relations after seven years of animosity, in a pact between regional archrivals that could have far-reaching consequences for the Middle East.
Under an agreement negotiated by China, Riyadh, and Tehran plan to reopen their embassies, according to a joint statement issued by Saudi Arabia and Iran on Friday.
Kirby stated that Saudi officials had kept the White House updated on the progress of the talks. But, he downplayed Beijing’s role in mediating the accord, stating that the road plan for resuming relations includes meetings in Iraq and Oman.
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