While Saudi Arabia and Israel, two influential countries in the Middle East with financial and political power, still do not have formal relations, the “behind-the-scenes movement” between diplomats and businessmen is reportedly on the rise. American Wall Street Journal
The newspaper wrote that Riyadh polled the Saudi people, especially the youth, and saw a “major shift” in support of establishing relations with Israel.
“Saudi public opinion is in line with the monarchy’s official diplomatic approach, which sees no benefit in achieving relations with Israel without offering anything to the Palestinians,” said Saad bin Omar, a Saudi scholar and director of the Century Studies Center.
“Saudi Arabia’s view is that normalization will eventually happen,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on May 24.
Farhan added: “Normalization will bring great benefits to everyone, but without mentioning the issue of Palestine, we can not benefit from these benefits, and in recent weeks we have seen clear signs that failure to resolve this issue will always be a factor for this issue.” “Instability in the region.”
The Saudi minister denied the existence of current relations with Israel, saying that the kingdom would not hide its relations.
And Saudi scholar Ben Omar added to the Al-Hurra website that “the kingdom said through the foreign minister that it would not establish any relations with Israel without a solution to the Palestinian issue.”
He emphasized that the decision was not a signal of a formal antitrust inquiry into Israel.
He added that Prince Khalid bin Salman, the son of the King of Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince’s brother, had told a number of US officials during a recent visit to Washington.
But bin Omar says that “most Saudi public opinion agrees with the official view that ‘what will Israel offer us when we establish a relationship with it?’
“There is a feeling in all Arab countries that relations with Israel are neither advanced nor delayed,” bin Omar said.
He added: “Any relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel, whether at the strategic, economic or security levels, will not be in our interest at all.”
The Wall Street Journal notes that a series of covert political, military and economic actions could accelerate a long and constructive effort to end the conflict between the two countries, which see a common threat in Iran. Described as “participating in these efforts.” “It may take years for them to become public.” According to the newspaper.
He said the talks were a key element in efforts to repair strained relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, as the Biden administration acknowledged former President Donald Trump’s efforts to build relations between Israel and the Arab world without the Israelis expecting them. – Palestine Peace Agreement
He described the talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel as “serious”.
The newspaper says that with the help of the Biden government, Saudi Arabia and Israel are trying to reach an agreement that could give commercial aircraft wider rights to fly over Israel from the kingdom and pave the way for full control of Saudi Arabia. According to acquaintances, strategic islands in the Red Sea, Tiran and Sanafir.
The kingdom and Israel have been considered official enemies since 1948, but there are ongoing reports of Israeli officials visiting the kingdom.
During the visit, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020 in a bid to advance diplomatic talks, the newspaper said. Slowly
However, Saudi Arabia did so in response to what Israeli media reports claimed in 2020 that Netanyahu had secretly visited the kingdom.
According to the newspaper, Yossi Cohen, who served as the head of Israel’s intelligence service during the mediation of the normalization agreement, according to the newspaper, traveled secretly to Saudi Arabia several times, where he met with Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And visited the house of Prince Khalid. He is the Deputy Minister of Defense.
And Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said last week that he believed “there could be a normalization process with Saudi Arabia” and stressed that “this is in our interest.”
“If Hamas has a relationship with Iran to protect itself, why do we not have a relationship with Israel against Iran to protect ourselves?” The newspaper quoted an unnamed Saudi official as saying.
The paper says it is possible that improving Saudi-Israeli relations could help President Biden strengthen strained relations between Washington and Riyadh.
The prospect of Biden meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Salman has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers in Washington and human rights groups urging the president to take stronger steps to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia.
“Israel wants to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia and the monarchy wants to normalize relations with the Biden government,” the newspaper quoted David Makowski, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as saying.
U.S. officials have warned Saudi Arabia that there is a risk of losing economic and security agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two countries that are rapidly moving to take advantage of their new relationship with Israel, the paper said.
Washington sees Saudi Arabia as a potential source of compensation for Russian oil, which was or will be suspended by European sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine.
Also, Iran and the hesitation in the nuclear deal give Saudi Arabia more incentive in the US government.
The Jerusalem Post quoted the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joseph Westphal, as saying that King Salman bin Abdulaziz had sent a message to US President Donald Trump at the time of his election that That’s what he said. Saudi Arabia “believes in the right of Israel to exist and believes that this is important for a Palestinian state.”
“It does not look like an agreement will be reached with Iran and it looks like Tehran is advancing its nuclear program,” the Israeli newspaper quoted David Wattawi, a Wilson Center staffer, as saying. “And its commitment to working to curb Iran’s expansion into the world is of particular importance.”
The United States is also working to secure an agreement that would give Saudi Arabia full control of the two Red Sea islands – Tiran and Sanafir – which would require Israeli approval.
Located strategically between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, the islands have been at the center of decades-long territorial disputes between Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and now host an international security force.
According to participants in the talks, the three countries are now considering a proposal to transfer a multinational force from the islands and allow Saudi Arabia to control security in both places.
According to the newspaper, the agreement is another way for Israel and Saudi Arabia to show improvement in their relations.
Source: Lebanon Debate
