There are many conditions that are necessary for a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, including those relating to Israel or tranquility.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel has first aid in stifling the US Senate’s support for an American-Saudi defense treaty that safeguards Arabian security and American interests, including separating Riyadh from Beijing, according to Biden officials.
Then, Israel must accept territory for Israeli self- determination yet before Hamas, which pledges to kill the Jewish state, is eradicated. Saudi Arabia will only begin to restore ties with Israel once they are established, and it will only do so on its own, not in line with the Muslim League or the OIC.
Saudi Arabia first suggested a bilateral peace with Israel regardless of the Palestinian track in January 2023, and Riyadh did so in accordance with a change in its foreign policy that had begun with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman’s ( MBS ) appointment in 2016. In the Arab and Muslim worlds, Riyadh began placing the” Royal First” before” Saudi First.”
Along identical lines, the country minimized its involvement in Lebanon and Syria, among other places, deeming these places carefully insignificant.
Riyadh’s view aligned with the Trump administration’s exterior- in serenity model, which pursued diplomatic peace treaties between Israel and personal Arab governments as a prelude to Israel peace with Palestinians. However, the Biden administration switched to the more traditional” Palestinians first” approach and afterward Israeli-Arab peace. Biden’s see of Egyptian peace with Israel therefore clashed with Riyadh’s interests.
In January, Riyadh and Washington made a clear cut of the two countries ‘ differences. Washington went a step further by considering the option of formally recognizing a Palestinian state, while the Saudis promised to restore ties with Israel in exchange for an inevitable training toward a Palestinian condition.
The Saudis vehemently opposed their position, making the creation of a Palestinian state a necessity for standardization with Israel in order to avoid appearing less sympathetic of Israeli needs than Washington. Since then, it appears that both Washington and Riyadh have settled on the “pathway to a Arab position” as a necessity for Saudi normalization with Israel.
No one seems to be aware of the details or even attempted to describe what a Arab position looks like or means. The Arab state is run by who? Hamas, which refuses to acknowledge Israel and declares an end to war, what happens to it? And who speaks on behalf of Palestinians while America, Saudi Arabia, and Israel try to iron out these issues.
Blinken thus pressed Gulf cities to join forces with the Palestinian Authority ( PA ) to end the Gaza War and pursue peace by pleading his hopes on the corrupt, powerless, and irrelevant Palestinian Authority ( PA ).
Gulf officials were uneasy about Washington dictating a post-war roster, despite reluctantly complying with their requests. The international minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah Bin Zayed, apparently engaged in a” shouting match” with the PA’s subsequent- in- command, Hussein al- Sheikh, and demanded that the PA enlist more skilled Palestinians such as former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
In a national election year, the Biden administration appears to be more focused on its home constituents than on Middle Eastern realities. Given that Hamas strongly opposes identification of and harmony with Israel, Washington has doubled down on an Jewish peace with Hamas and coupled it with a two-state peace agreement with the PA.
Washington declared that its diplomatic defense agreement with Saudi Arabia was set as a result of its plan spinning in circles, possibly as a result of the assumption that such information would encourage Israel to accept a ceasefire and a two-state solution.
Why, then, did Israel be motivated by an American-Saudi defense treaty? And given that 74 percent of Israelis oppose a Palestinian state without a trustworthy Palestinian peace partner, why should Israel use political capital in Washington to pass a treaty that does n’t resolve its conflict with the Palestinians? Biden’s politics looks contradictory.
Saudi Arabia would have been more successful if it had ratified a peace treaty without condition with Israel and established a powerful ally. The Israelis and Saudis may work together once they become allies to resolve a number of issues, including stabilizing Gaza and Hamas, battling local tyrannies, and bolstering Saudi relationships with the US in ways that disentangle Beijing. The Saudis may work together to find a trustworthy Arab partner who can negotiate peace with Israel through this alliance.
Due to Biden’s politics, peace will be the only thing that will happen until the place is fixed, preventing Saudi normalization with Israel. Washington should rather use the Israeli-Saudi harmony as a means of halting the Iran-led warring camp in the area and a means of resolving a 2,000-year-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies ( FDD), a nonpartisan, nonpartisan research institute based in Washington, DC, that focuses on foreign policy and national security. Following Hussain on X @hahussain