American writer and political analyst Thomas Friedman affirmed that any Gulf Arab country will not contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza in the absence of a legitimate and effective Palestinian partner for Israel and unless the latter commits to negotiating a two-state solution one day, describing “any Israeli official who claims otherwise as delusional.”

Friedman’s words came after his recent visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for a week, during which he met with a number of their senior leaders, noting that “when the war in Gaza ends, Saudi Arabia remains committed in principle to resuming the normalization negotiations with Israel that were ongoing before October 7.” (October)".

Hamas and Israel: Who implicated whom?

In his article in the New York Times, Friedman wrote: “I was concerned from the beginning that Israel launched its invasion of Gaza to eliminate Hamas without a plan for what to do with the Strip and its people in the wake of any victory.” Having just spent a week in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Tracking the pulse of this important corner of the Arab world, I now feel even more concerned. Hamas has planned and executed a barbaric campaign that seems to drive Israel crazy and act without thinking about the next day. And that is exactly what Israel did. Today, after nine weeks, we can now see the next day. In In its effort to dismantle the Hamas military machine and eliminate the movement's senior leaders, Israel killed and wounded thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza. Hamas knew this would happen and did not care at all. While Israel should care. It will inherit responsibility for a massive humanitarian catastrophe that will take years to resolve. A global coalition can fix and manage it.”

Friedman also noted “the difficulty of an Israeli government, even a moderate one, committing to reviving this Saudi-American-Israeli-Palestinian dialogue at the present time.”

Friedman added: “This effort will cost billions of dollars and will take several years, and based on my conversations in the Gulf, no Gulf Arab country (in addition to the European Union countries or the US Congress) will come to Gaza with bags of money for its reconstruction unless, and even this is not certain.” "Israel does not have a legitimate and effective Palestinian partner and unless it commits to negotiating a two-state solution one day. Any Israeli official who claims otherwise is delusional. He pointed to the statement of the UAE Ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, in a press conference: "We need to see a two-state solution plan.” "A viable roadmap... a serious roadmap before talking about the next day and rebuilding the infrastructure in Gaza."

The fate of normalization

Regarding the path of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel through the American mediator, Friedman said, “When the war in Gaza ends, Saudi Arabia will remain committed in principle to resuming the negotiations that were ongoing before October 7. The negotiators were discussing the possibility of concluding a security treaty between the United States and the Kingdom and normalizing relations between the Kingdom.” And Israel, provided that the latter undertakes specific steps to work with the Palestinian Authority towards achieving a two-state solution.”

Thomas left Saudi Arabia with “a very strong impression that Saudi Arabia wants the Americans to end the Gaza war as quickly as possible, because the death and destruction in Gaza is radicalizing its youth, alienating foreign investors and preventing it from focusing on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan to transform the country.” In terms of education, infrastructure and women’s empowerment.” He said that although “Saudi leaders do not sympathize with Hamas, they doubt Israel’s ability to eliminate it, and are concerned that the damage to Gaza in its attempt to do so will lead to bad consequences.”

Friedman also pointed out “the difficulty of an Israeli government, even if it is moderate, committing to reviving this Saudi-American-Israeli-Palestinian dialogue at the present time, so how can that be with the group of fanatics who are currently running Israel, and who are committed to annexing the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well. Given what happened on 7 October “Many Israelis are unwilling to consider, let alone accept, ceding control of the territories to any Palestinian ruling authority.”

He said: “Netanyahu is currently campaigning to retain his position by trying to prove to his far-right base that he is the only leader willing to say to the Biden administration that his country will never achieve the minimum requested by the United States: to help establish a reorganized Palestinian Authority and provide a long-term political horizon.” For a Palestinian state by developing a Palestinian partner who can one day rule Gaza liberated from Hamas and Israel.”