Saudi Arabia stipulated that the United States should conclude the normalization deal with Israel on Tuesday, according to Israeli reports, according to Israeli Channel 12, on security guarantees and assistance in developing a civilian nuclear program.
According to the channel’s report, there has been an important development in the intensive talks mediated by the American side represented by Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State and Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser, and the Israeli side represented by David Barnei, head of the Israeli Mossad, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Among the Saudi conditions is also the return of arms deals to the negotiating table.
The report added that the normalization agreement with the Kingdom will include its request from the United States to settle the arms deals that were suspended by the Biden administration, and to conduct a defense alliance with it, including the establishment of a full nuclear program. On the other hand, the United States demanded conditions from Israel, the most important of which is the retraction of the judicial amendments that shook the street in Israel, as more than half of Israeli society considers these amendments to be a coup against the democratic system, and to start talking with the Palestinian side to reach a political settlement.
In a related context, the Israeli newspaper Maariv published last week that Israel would agree to operate flights between Ben Gurion and Jeddah airports to operate 4,500 pilgrims from the Palestinians48. About a year ago, regarding the existence of direct flights from Israel for Palestinian pilgrims in the Palestinian interior 48 on board planes that would take off from Tel Aviv or Sde Ramon Airport.
Development of the Saudi nuclear program
The New York Times published reports last March about its concern about Riyadh’s condition to develop its nuclear program through uranium enrichment and to provide American assistance to achieve the Saudi Crown Prince’s aspirations to produce its own nuclear fuel, and the repercussions of that in the Middle East.
According to the American newspaper, The New York Times, at the end of last year, Saudi Arabia contacted experts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel think tank, through joint visits, the last of which was in Riyadh last October.
The Palestinian cause
According to Israeli reports, Riyadh is calling on Israel to start a peace process based on the principle of a two-state solution. Noting that US reports published by the “Wall Street Journal” last month stated that the Palestinian issue “does not occupy much importance in the current talks, and that the Saudi side does not consider the issue essential.”
Despite Saudi Arabia’s official reservations about the rapprochement of joint relations with Israel, the year 2017 witnessed a clear change and public statements by Israel and Saudi Arabia, especially following the escalation of tensions in the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the possibility of the two parties allying against Tehran and its growing influence in Syria and Iraq. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated on more than one occasion that the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia would constitute a major step to “end the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
Allowing Israeli flights to cross
And Saudi Arabia had allowed Israeli airlines to fly in its airspace to and from Bahrain after the normalization of relations known as the Abraham Accords (2020) in July 2022.
