Netanyahu postpones pursuit of Israel normalisation with Saudi Arabia until after US election, report says

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has reportedly decided not to advance efforts toward reaching a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia until after the presidential election in the United States later this year.

According to a report on Israeli outlet, Channel 12, yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided to postpone his aims to establish relations with Saudi Arabia due to the rapid developments taking place within US politics in recent months, particularly in regard to US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race and the increasing likelihood of former president, Donald Trump’s re-election into power in the elections in November.

Netanyahu’s view is reportedly that it may be worth waiting until the end of the US election season to see whether the Republican nominee, Trump, returns to office, in which case the Israelis would apparently have a clearer vision in regards to the process of pursuing the long-sought normalisation deal with the Gulf Kingdom under US mediation.

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The reported decision by Netanyahu comes as US Congress has been finishing up its summer session ahead of and in preparation for the election in November, apparently giving the postponement more weight. It also comes, however, around a week after an Israeli official assured reporters at a briefing in Washington that a normalisation agreement between Tel Aviv and Riyadh was still possible before the presidential election, and that Netanyahu had discussed the issue with President Biden during their White House meeting.

According to the Times of Israel, an unnamed Palestinian official informed it last week that, in the case of the normalisation efforts being postponed until at least after the US presidential election, Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, will attempt to coordinate with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas their approaches to the US and its new administration set to take office in January next year, whether Trump or current Vice President, Kamala Harris, takes the helm.

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