United States officials traveled to Saudi Arabia and arrived on Thursday with plans to discuss normalization efforts between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
The meeting comes amid United States President Joe Biden's directions to explore further cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, including the latter's concessions to the Palestinians that seek to keep prospects for a two-state solution ongoing.
US-Saudi Arabia Meeting
The Democratic leader has not yet decided whether he will ultimately sign off on the maneuver. It would likely need a massive security pact between the US and Saudi Arabia to work properly.
During the 2020 campaign, the American president pledged to make the kingdom a "pariah" over the nation's human rights record. However, the Democrat has nonetheless ordered National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk, who would work on discussing the terms of a potential deal, as per the Times of Israel.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson confirmed that Sullivan had already arrived in Saudi Arabia. However, they declined to comment on if the trip was for the discussions of a potential normalization agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
They also said that the national security adviser would meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss bilateral and regional matters. The meeting would also focus on the significant process made in talks to build on the benefits of the truce agreed upon in Yemen that have endured for the last 16 months.
Currently, Riyadh is seeking a NATO-like mutual security treaty that would obligate the United States to defend itself in the case of an attack. It would also provide a civilian nuclear program monitored and supported by the American government and the ability to buy more advanced weaponry from Washington, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense THAAD) anti-ballistic missile defense system.
Normalization Between Riyadh and Israel
According to The Guardian, a columnist for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, said that any potential efforts to establish a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel could be time-consuming, difficult, and complex.
A former CIA Middle East analyst and White House adviser, Bruce Riedel, said such an idea of a multifaceted agreement was politically far-fetched. He added that Saudi Arabia does not want to see Biden getting re-elected as president as they strongly prefer former United States President Donald Trump.
He argued that this is primarily because the Republican businessman did not question them on human rights issues and expressed his 100% support for the Yemen War. Riedel noted that the former president did nothing to Riyadh after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident.
The US is seeking three main things during the meeting with Saudi Arabia, an end to the fighting in Yemen, a Saudi Arabia aid package to Palestinian institutions in the West Bank, and significant restrictions on the growing relationship between Riyadh and Moscow, said the New York Times.
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