ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 02 Apr 2024 2:10 pm - Jerusalem Time

Sullivan heads to Saudi Arabia this week to discuss prospects for Saudi-Israeli normalization

The website "Axios" revealed, today, Tuesday, that the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, is preparing to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this week, where he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to discuss a "potential huge deal" that includes normalization with Israel and a defense treaty between Washington and Riyadh. .


The website quoted four American and Israeli officials as saying that Sullivan's visit "comes as part of the White House's efforts to work on drafting a defense treaty between America and Saudi Arabia, and understandings related to the United States' support for a Saudi civil nuclear program."


According to the site's report, American officials hope to reach a "bilateral agreement" with Saudi Arabia during the visit, which will then be presented to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, noting that the Israeli side of the agreement "includes a commitment to a path that leads to a two-state solution."


Axios says that the White House refused to comment on the site, and that the Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request from the site to comment on the issue.


According to the website, an Israeli official told him, “There has been significant progress in talks between the United States and Saudi Arabia on their draft defense treaty. They want to finalize their side of the deal before putting it on our table, and they are telling us: Accept it or leave it.”


The normalization talks stopped following Israel’s launch of its ongoing war since last October 7, which claimed the lives of 32 Palestinian citizens, most of them women and children, “but the talks have resumed in the past few months,” according to the site’s claim.


On Tuesday, Reuters quoted an American official as saying that Sullivan “intends to hold talks with the Saudi Crown Prince regarding this issue, but he does not expect to achieve a major breakthrough.”


A second American official said that Sullivan would conduct broad consultations on a number of matters, explaining: “He has not visited Saudi Arabia for a while and there is a lot that can be discussed.”


US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said on March 21 that the United States and Saudi Arabia had made “good progress” in the talks on normalizing relations between the Kingdom and Israel, without providing a timetable for concluding an agreement.


US President Joe Biden said during a campaign fundraising event in New York last week that the Saudis are “ready to fully recognize Israel,” according to Axios.


Biden added: “But there must be a plan for Gaza, and there must be a path to reach a two-state solution. That should not happen today.”


Saudi Arabia, which does not recognize Israel, sets several conditions for normalization with it, including obtaining security guarantees from Washington and helping it develop a civilian nuclear program. It also confirmed its demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state, something it reaffirmed after Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip.


Netanyahu rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state, and even boasts that he was the one who prevented the establishment of this state since the Oslo Accords, which prompted the American Jewish senator and head of the Democratic majority in the Senate to describe Netanyahu last month as an obstacle to peace.

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Sullivan heads to Saudi Arabia this week to discuss prospects for Saudi-Israeli normalization