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Israel-Saudi Arabia Peace in Peril After Shocking Hamas Strike
A “historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia” appeared to be within reach less than three weeks ago as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat next to President Joe Biden and expressed his astonishment. He projected that this diplomatic development may result in a durable peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
In their meeting in New York, Biden and Netanyahu expressed similar optimism, saying, “If you and I were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia 10 years ago, I think we’d Who’s been drinking what, they ask each other.
Now, the United States’ years-long, country-by-country diplomatic effort to restore relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors is in danger of being delayed or derailed due to the commencement of war between Israel and the Palestinians following a horrific Hamas strike on Israeli soil.
The Abraham Accords, also known as the so-called normalization movement, was established during the tenure of former President Donald Trump and intends to greatly enhance Israel’s standing in the area. However, many have cautioned that it ignores Palestinian demands for statehood, particularly in the Trump administration.
The establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia’s opponents, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may have been the most ambitious goal of the United States in this campaign. Iran, a generous military and financial supporter of Hamas, is the joint enemy of the two most powerful countries in the Middle East.
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Such an accord between Jerusalem and Riyadh would be seen as a career-defining achievement by Biden, Netanyahu, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It’s one that might allow other Arab and Muslim-majority nations to stop opposing Israel since it was created in 1948 on land that the Palestinians had long-occupied. Under Trump, normalization agreements with Israel were supported by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.
But the shocking Hamas assault, and much of the Arab world’s response to it, has also raised new questions about whether Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty can be set aside while the US works to support Israel in moving forward with its efforts to improve ties with the rest of its Middle Eastern neighbors.
The region is now preparing for even more death and damage as well as an extensive military campaign by Israel after Netanyahu promised to reduce all Hamas hideouts in Gaza to ashes. In a speech at the White House on Tuesday in the afternoon, Biden is expected to discuss the assaults on Israel.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations for Middle East and Africa Studies, said that “we’re going to see a rather significant operation from air, land, and sea that costs many, many, many lives.” “I believe this normalization dynamic will likely slow down or stop, at least temporarily.”
Officials from the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia—all of whom were feeling optimistic about the possibility of an Israeli-Saudi deal beginning to take shape—were shocked by the attacks.
In a CNN interview from last month, Netanyahu referred to the potential agreement as “a quantum leap” for the area. Additionally noting the consistent advancement, the Saudi crown prince told Fox News Channel that “every day we get closer.”
At a recent The Atlantic event, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan remarked that although issues in the Middle East persisted, the time he was devoting to them compared with his immediate predecessors was “significantly reduced.”
The Middle East is now more peaceful than it has been in the previous 20 years, according to Sullivan.
That optimism has quickly faded away.
In the hours following the Hamas attack, social media showed people taking to the streets with Palestinian flags in Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, and other countries. Two Israeli tourists and one Egyptian were killed when a police officer in Alexandria, a seaside city in Egypt, opened fire on them.
In a statement issued shortly after the bombings, the foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia did not denounce Hamas. Instead, the ministry emphasized that it has consistently warned that Israel’s “occupation, the denial of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations” pose a threat.” had led to this situation.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, declined to comment on the Saudi response. “We continue to believe that normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia is advantageous for the citizens of both nations, as well as for Americans and everyone else in the area, said Kirby. And we fully want to keep supporting a procedure that allows for normalization.”
The Saudis were reminding the administration in their statement that “we’ve been telling you guys over and over again that if you ignore the Palestine issue the region’s going to director of the Palestine-Israel program at the Arab Center, a Washington-based think group, Yousef Munayyer,. And I believe the Biden administration had a great deal of arrogance in believing they could pull it off.
Although members of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition have made it clear that they won’t accept an independent Palestinian state, Biden and U.S. officials have privately told Netanyahu that any deal had to contain considerable concessions for Palestinians.
Saudi Arabia had said that they too anticipated Israel’s making concessions. “There is no other way” to resolve the problem, according to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, than by creating a Palestinian state.
Other regional allies had also emphasized the need of not ignoring Palestinian issues.
In the early 1990s, Jordan became the second Arab country after Egypt to sign a peace agreement with Israel. Last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan said at a global summit that while the prospect of a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel offered hope for the Middle East, it did not in and of itself guarantee stability.
“This belief, held by some in the region, that you can parachute over Palestine, deal with the Arabs, and work your way back — that does not work,” the Jordanian king declared at the time. Furthermore, while Israelis and Palestinians are perishing, even nations that have Abraham Accords with Israel find it difficult to publicly address these issues. There will never be true peace if we don’t resolve this issue.
Although U.S. officials vow they will continue, they also concede that their efforts are unlikely to succeed as long as Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in a direct confrontation.
“This belief, held by some in the region, that you can parachute over Palestine, deal with the Arabs, and work your way back — that does not work,” the Jordanian king declared at the time. Furthermore, while Israelis and Palestinians are perishing, even nations that have Abraham Accords with Israel find it difficult to publicly address these issues. There will never be true peace if we don’t resolve this issue.
Although U.S. officials vow they will continue, they also concede that their efforts are unlikely to succeed as long as Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in a direct confrontation.
In order to improve Arab-Israeli collaboration while also enhancing Palestinian conditions, the Negev Forum brings together the top diplomats from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Analysts point out that the Saudis have justification for continuing their efforts to negotiate a normalization agreement.
In the long run, according to Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, bin Salman wants to diversify the economy and increase security in the oil-rich kingdom. Saudi Arabia is pressuring Biden to include a nuclear cooperation agreement and U.S. defense commitments in any agreement.
Dubowitz anticipated that “he will keep moving forward and needs normalization.”
Dubowitz continued: “The Saudis had better be careful because they are playing with fire in Washington.”