Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia is putting on hold US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel, said two sources familiar with Riyadh’s thinking, who are increasingly considering their foreign policy priorities as the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas escalates. Is indicating reconsideration.
The conflict has also led the kingdom to engage with Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to stem a widespread surge in violence across the region.
Two sources told Reuters that US-backed talks on normalization with Israel would be delayed, a key step for the kingdom to secure the de facto award of a US defense deal in exchange for Riyadh.
Until Iran-backed Hamas sparked war with a devastating attack on Israel on October 7, both Israeli and Saudi leaders said they were moving quickly toward a deal that could reshape the Middle East. Is.
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Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites, had been signaling until the latest conflict that it would not let a US defense deal derail its pursuit, even if Israel supported the Palestinians in their bid for a state. Significant concessions may not have been made in the bid. , sources had said earlier.
But an approach that sidelines the Palestinians would risk angering Arabs across the region, as Arab news outlets broadcast images of Palestinians killed in Israeli retaliatory air strikes.
Hamas fighters killed more than 1,300 Israelis in the October 7 attack and Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza had killed more than 2,000 Palestinians as of Friday.
The first source familiar with Riyadh’s thinking said talks could not be continued now and that the issue of Israeli concessions to the Palestinians would need to be given a greater priority when discussions resumed – a comment that indicated Riyadh Has not given up this idea.
The Saudi government did not respond to emailed requests for comment for this article.
‘Considered taboo’
The Saudi rethink highlights the challenges facing Washington’s efforts to deepen Israel’s integration in a region where the Palestinian issue remains a major Arab concern.
Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian said, “Normalization was already considered taboo (in the Arab world)… This war only increases it.”
Washington wants to build on the Abraham Accords when Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, normalize ties.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a White House briefing this week that normalization efforts had “not stopped” but said the focus was on other immediate challenges.
The first source familiar with Saudi thinking said Washington had pressed Riyadh this week to condemn the Hamas attack, but Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan pushed back. An American source familiar with the matter has confirmed this.
The regional conflict has prompted the Saudi Crown Prince and Iran’s president to speak out for the first time since a Chinese mediation initiative prompted the Gulf rivals to re-establish diplomatic ties in April.
A Saudi statement said the crown prince told Raisi, “The kingdom is making maximum efforts to engage with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation”, citing Riyadh’s steps to contain the crisis. Underlines.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Raisi’s call to the Crown Prince was aimed at “supporting Palestine and preventing the spread of war in the region”.
“The call was good and promising,” the official said.
A second Iranian official said the call lasted 45 minutes and had the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
stress is decreasing
The Saudi government did not provide further details on the call, but the statement said the Crown Prince opposed “any form of civilian targeting and the loss of innocent lives” in the kingdom and expressed solidarity with Riyadh’s “standing up for the Palestinian cause.” Expressed “unwavering stance”. ,
Saudi Arabia is trying to ease tensions elsewhere in the Middle East, including by seeking an end to the Yemen conflict, where Riyadh has led a military coalition in the war against the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Asked about Raisi’s call with the crown prince, a senior US State Department official said Washington was “in constant touch with Saudi leaders”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken several times with his Saudi counterpart.
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The official said Washington would urge Hamas, Hezbollah — a Lebanese armed group aligned with Tehran that fought a war with Israel in 2006 — or Iran to “get Hamas to step back from its attacks, release the hostages, keep Hezbollah out.” For” was asking partners with. (And) keep Iran out of the fight.”
The first source familiar with Saudi thinking said Gulf countries, including those with Israeli ties, were worried that Iran could be drawn into a conflict that would affect them.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said last week showed how divergent the Saudi and Iranian approaches to the region were.
He said, “The Saudis are still convinced that the region and Saudi Arabia itself need to move toward regional cooperation and economic development. It seems that Iran feels that taking the fight to the Israelis first is a priority.”
