Video: Biden took off from Saudi Arabia and ended his visit to the Middle East (Photo: Reuters)
Foreign Ministry Director General Ronen Levy said Sunday that the United States is committed to trying to expand the circle of relations between Israel and the Arab world. "Normalization with Saudi Arabia is very important, but we must not neglect other countries with which there is potential for normalization even according to Saudi Arabia," he told an INSS conference. "I hope that in the coming months there will be more countries like this."
About two weeks ago, Walla found out! The White House intends to make a diplomatic effort in the next six months in an attempt to bring about a breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to two senior American officials familiar with the matter. According to the sources, the efforts are focused on trying to get a normalization agreement signed by the end of the year, before the US presidential campaign completely takes over President Joe Biden's agenda.
"Other countries should not be neglected." Levy (Photo: official website, Rami Zarenger)
Any normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia brokered by the Biden administration is expected to include an upgrade in relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia and a package of American rewards for the Saudis. Such a deal is likely to be unpopular with many in the Democratic Party and even cost President Biden a political price.
At the same time, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met last week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah and discussed normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, senior U.S. officials said. After the talks in Jeddah, senior advisers to President Biden Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein arrived in Jerusalem and updated Prime Minister Netanyahu on the talks with the Saudi crown prince. Two senior U.S. officials said Sullivan had stressed to the Saudi crown prince that the United States believed there was an opportunity to reach an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel by the end of the year.
For his part, bin Salman stressed that he is not interested in taking more small steps to warm relations with Israel, but rather aspires to a single package deal that will include normalization with Israel and American changes for Saudi Arabia, such as closer security cooperation between the countries. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to questions on the matter.
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