The Biden Administration is pushing hard for Israel-Saudi normalization. It is apparent that the U.S. has two interrelated objectives in doing so. One is to subvert the Iran-Saudi rapprochement that China mediated, and the second is to keep Saudi Arabia from entering into the orbit of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Axios reported yesterday that David Barnea, the chief of Israel’s Mossad, was in Washington on a secret trip a couple of weeks ago for meetings at the White House and the CIA about the Biden administration’s efforts to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would include normalization between the kingdom and Israel, according to two unnamed sources. This was followed by a trip to Riyadh by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk, the NSC point man on the Middle East, last week, where they met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
According to the Times of Israel, Riyadh is seeking a significant defense and security pact with the United States, Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, and a civilian nuclear program, a demand long opposed by Washington and Jerusalem.
But on Monday, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel’s approval for a civilian nuclear program would not be required, since lots of countries have civil nuclear programs and they’re not a threat to anyone.
The hang-up however, will come if the Saudis really do push for Israeli concessions towards the Palestinians. Such a move would be vociferously opposed by the radical parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, particularly if it involved a freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank. Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Channel 12 news on Monday that Israel was “the closest we have ever been to a peace agreement” with the Saudis. Cohen asserted that the Palestinian issue “is not a barrier” to making such a deal, though he declined to respond as to whether Israel would enact a settlement freeze if one were demanded by Riyadh.
