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The Biden administration is discussing with Saudi Arabia the possibility of normalization with Israel and accession to the Abrahamic agreements

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan raised the issue in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Ben Salman in late September.

The Saudis did not outright reject the possibility of promoting normalization with Israel but stressed that such a move would take time and gave the White House a list of measures that would need to be realized sooner.

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Lightning Ravid

Wednesday, 20 October 2021, 12:59

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In the video: Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates in Washington (Walla!)

The Biden administration is discussing with Saudi Arabia the possibility of normalization with Israel and joining the "Abraham Accords." White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan raised the issue in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on September 27 during his visit to the kingdom, according to three American and Arab sources involved.

Sources noted that in a conversation with Sullivan, Ben Salman did not outright reject the possibility of promoting normalization with Israel. The Saudis, however, stressed that such a move would take time and even gave Sullivan a list of steps that would need to be taken sooner. Some of these steps relate to improving relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The White House declined to comment.

Saudi Arabia's accession to the "Abraham Accords" will be a very significant move that may push other Arab and Muslim countries to take a similar step.

Since the entry of US President Joe Biden into the US administration, he has shown a coldness towards Saudi Arabia, especially in the wake of the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Hashukaji by Saudi assassins and the human rights situation in the kingdom.

Did not outright reject the possibility of promoting normalization with Israel.

Ben Salman (Photo: Reuters)

President Biden approved the publication a few months ago of the CIA report stating that Regent Muhammad bin Salman had ordered the abduction and murder of Hashukaji. Any Saudi move to normalize with Israel is expected to be part of a larger package deal that will include Israeli measures against the Palestinians and American measures to thaw relations with Ben Salman, with whom President Biden has so far refused to meet or talk.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan met with US Secretary of State Tony Blinkan last Thursday in Washington. In the public statements surrounding the meeting, neither side mentioned the issue of normalization with Israel. However, a day or two earlier, the issue of normalization with other countries arose in meetings held by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid with both Blinkan and Sullivan.

A senior Israeli official will brief American reporters last Thursday after the meetings held by Lapid that at least an Arab or Muslim state will "certainly join" Abraham's agreements in the coming year.

Senior officials in the Biden administration said Friday in a conference call with U.S. Jewish leaders that the White House and the State Department in Washington are in quiet contact with several Arab and Muslim countries that have the potential to join the "Abraham Accords."

They noted that the strong bond between Israel and the United States is a key element in all talks with those Arab and Muslim countries.

Biden and Salaman, King of Saudi Arabia.

2011 (Photo: AP)

The US tried to encourage Saudi Arabia to progress gradually towards normalization with Israel for over a decade. In 2009, former President Barack Obama asked the king of Saudi Arabia Abdullah then make small steps toward normalization with Israel and other Arab states to give "green light" to carry out similar measures.

Obama He hoped that this would encourage then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance the peace process with the Palestinians, however, the King of Saudi Arabia rejected his request and clarified that the kingdom did its part when leading the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002.

The Arab Peace Initiative ruled that all Arab and Muslim countries Israel only after the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with an exchange of territories with its capital East Jerusalem.However, the fact that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have done so in the past year made the Arab peace initiative less relevant and gave the Saudis more leeway.

Since 2017, the Trump administration has made great efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel.

Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman showed openness to the idea but his father King Salman insisted on maintaining traditional Saudi policy on the Israeli-Palestinian issue and not exceeding the conditions set out in the Arab peace initiative.

The trilateral meeting between Blinken, Foreign Minister of the Emirates and Lapid, last week (Photo: Government Press Office, Shlomi Amsalem)

Despite this, Saudi Arabia supported the UAE decision to sign a peace agreement with Israel and gave Bahrain a "green light" to join the "Abraham Accords." The Saudis even helped implement the agreements when they complied with the Trump administration's request to allow flights from Israel to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and back to pass through their airspace.

Some senior Trump administration officials have said in closed-door talks that if Trump had won the presidential election and won a second term, they would have succeeded in getting Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel within 6-12 months. Former Presidential Adviser to President Trump Jared Kushner even met with Biden's adviser Jake Sullivan in January 2021 a few days before the new president was sworn in and encouraged him to push for Saudi Arabia to join the "Abraham Accords".

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said in a statement: ".

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