US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This statement was made during a conference of the American pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, on the eve of his visit to Riyadh.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the eve of his visit to the Arab power.
“The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said in a speech to the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
Blinken is expected to arrive Tuesday evening in Jeddah. On Wednesday and Thursday he will be in Riyadh for a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council and a separate meeting of the 80-strong coalition of countries fighting the Islamic State group.
Besides his diplomatic counterparts, Blinken is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto power in the country.
Despite longstanding close ties, US relations with the Saudis have been testy in recent years, over human rights issues like the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a group tied to the Saudi royal palace, and Riyadh’s effort to raise oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, the Saudis recently gave China an opening into Middle East political dynamics when Beijing brokered a tentative rapprochement between Riyadh and archrival Tehran.
And in May Prince Mohammed hosted Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, whose legitimacy Washington rejects, in Jeddah.
Still, US-Saudi relations are intimate, especially defense: Washington provides the Sunni Arab giant security protection from Shiite Iran, and the Saudis purchase significant amounts of arms from the United States.
Both are also involved in efforts to end the years-long war in Yemen that pits Iran-backed Huthi rebels against the frail government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition.
And most recently the Saudis have hosted in Jeddah negotiations between the warring military factions in Sudan.
Washington has stepped up its push for Saudi-Israeli ties in the wake of the successes of the Abraham Accords, the initiative launched by former president Donald Trump to persuade Arab countries to recognize the Jewish state.
Although Israel and Saudi Arabia have long maintained regular contacts at the unofficial level, Riyadh has declined to recognize Israel, in part over Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian minority.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
