US, Saudi consider security deal without normalising ties with Israel

Senior American and Saudi officials met in Washington last week to discuss a potential security arrangement that would not require Riyadh to establish formal relations with Israel.

According to a report published yesterday, talks of normalisation have been put on hold due to Israel’s ongoing war against Gaza and its reluctance to consider a diplomatic framework for a future Palestinian state.

Despite this, Washington and Riyadh are reportedly exploring the possibility of signing a more limited security agreement before President Joe Biden’s term concludes in January, Axios reported, citing three anonymous sources.

It comes after Saudi National Security Adviser Musaad Bin Mohammed Al-Aiban was in Washington last week, where he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as his US counterparts Jake Sullivan, Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein at the White House, the news site reported.

The US has sought to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, Riyadh said moving forward with such an agreement requires finding a path to a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue based on the establishment of a state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan announced last week that Riyadh might move forward on certain bilateral agreements with the United States, even if a larger deal involving normalisation with Israel does not go forward.

The Saudi Al-Ekhbariya channel quoted Bin Farhan as saying that Riyadh will mobilise international public opinion against Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people. This coincided with a call made by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to hold an Arab and Islamic summit in Riyadh on 11 November to discuss the ongoing Israeli offensive against Palestine and Lebanon.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the government in Riyadh “reiterates its condemnation and denunciation of the ongoing crimes and violations against the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation forces, and the Israeli assaults and violations against our Lebanese brothers.”

READ: Saudi, Tunisia discuss enhancing bilateral relations