Sources cited by Axios say Washington, Riyadh looking at signing smaller agreement that falls short of defense pact initially sought, before Biden leaves office in January
Top American and Saudi officials held talks last week in Washington about a possible security agreement that does not include Riyadh normalizing ties with Israel, according to a Monday report.
Normalization has been all but shelved amid the ongoing Gaza war and Israel’s refusal to establish a diplomatic horizon for a future Palestinian state.
However, Washington and Riyadh are still looking at signing a smaller security deal that falls short of the defense pact initially sought by Saudi Arabia, before US President Joe Biden leaves office in January, Axios reported, citing three unnamed sources.
Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Riyadh could potentially move “quite quickly” on some bilateral agreements with Washington even if a mega-deal involving normalization with Israel remains out of reach.
The Biden administration had been working to broker a normalization accord between the two countries that would include US security guarantees for Saudi Arabia, among other bilateral deals between Washington and Riyadh. Those efforts stalled after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which saw some 1,200 Israelis and foreign citizens killed, most of them civilians, and 251 hostages kidnapped to Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he seeks peace with Arab countries, after a year of war in Gaza and Lebanon, and as Washington seeks to rally Arab countries around long-term plans for post-war governance in the Gaza Strip and further normalization deals with Israel.
“I aspire to continue the process I went through a few years ago, with the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, in order to achieve peace with other Arab countries,” Netanyahu said in a speech to lawmakers as the Knesset began its winter session.
The US-brokered Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 under then-US president Donald Trump, saw Gulf countries Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Morocco, establish formal ties with Israel.
“I emphasize peace for peace, peace out of strength with important countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.
“These countries and other countries see very well the blows we inflict on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he added, two days after Israel attacked military targets in Iran, as retaliation for a massive Iranian missile barrage on Israel on October 1.
“They are impressed by our determination and courage. Like us, they aspire to a stable, secure, prosperous Middle East.”
Saudi Arabia did not join the 2020 deals and has never recognized Israel.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to make headway on normalization, flying directly from Tel Aviv to Riyadh on a tour of the Middle East, days before the US election.
“There remains, despite everything that’s happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction,” Blinken said minutes before leaving Israel.
“Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalization of relations with Israel.”
Axios also cited the sources as saying that Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban visited Washington last week, and met with Blinken, along with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan and Biden advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein at the White House.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-saudi-arabia-said-discussing-security-deal-without-israel-normalization/.
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