Washington – U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Thursday the appointment of former U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro as President Biden's personal envoy to expand normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab world. 

"Pleased to announce former U.S. Amb. Daniel Shapiro is joining@StateDept_NEA as Senior Advisor for Regional Integration. Dan will support U.S. efforts to advance a more peaceful and interconnected region, deepen and broaden the Abraham Accords, and build the Negev Forum," Blinken wrote on Twitter. Al-Quds.com had previously reported that Shapiro's appointment to this position was imminent. 

Despite recent stand-offs between the Biden administration and Netanyahu's far-right government, the appointment testifies to a continued commitment from the Biden administration to striking a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

It also comes as previous signatories to the Abraham Accords seem to have cooled their ties with Israel over the recent escalation against Palestinians.

Also on Thursday, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, said last Saturday that Riyadh envisions Israel as part of an “integrated Middle East” in line with the Vision 2030 project in her country, and also wants to see “a prosperous Israel” and "a thriving Palestine," the princess said in an interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell at the Aspen Festival of Ideas.

The princess's remarks came amid continued speculation about a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

 “We don’t say normalization, we talk about an integrated Middle East, unified [as] a bloc like Europe, where we all have sovereign rights and sovereign states, but we have a shared and common interest," she added. 

“So that’s not normalization. Normalization is you’re sitting there, and I’m sitting here, and we kind of coexist, but separately. Integration means our people collaborate, our businesses collaborate, and our youth thrive.”