Biden, Netanyahu agree Saudi deal must preserve 'two-state solution'
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President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu concurred that the substantial agreement with Saudi Arabia should be founded on the principle of safeguarding the possibility of a future Israeli-Palestinian "peace solution."
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in occupied al-Quds, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 (Pool Photo via AP)
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a consensus last week that the extensive agreement with Saudi Arabia should be rooted in the idea of safeguarding the potential for a future Israeli-Palestinian so-called "two-state solution," as relayed by an Israeli official and an individual familiar with the meeting to Axios. However, the precise details of the agreement are yet to be finalized.
Nevertheless, with the 2024 presidential campaign drawing closer, the Biden administration is actively working to advance the agreement with Saudi Arabia and "Israel," as it remains a prominent focus on Biden's agenda.
The White House has unequivocally communicated to the Israeli occupation government that, in the context of an agreement involving normalization between "Israel" and Saudi Arabia, substantial concessions to the Palestinians would be required.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken asserted that Saudi leaders informed him that the Palestinian matter would hold a pivotal position in any forthcoming agreement with "Israel."
What are they really saying?
The night preceding the meeting between the two leaders, Brett McGurk, the White House's Middle East czar, and Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to Biden, convened a preparatory session with aides from Netanyahu's team, as indicated by statements from two officials, one from the United States and one from "Israel."
McGurk and Hochstein inquired with Netanyahu's aides regarding the specifics of what the prime minister intended to convey to Biden regarding the concessions he was prepared to offer to the Palestinians as part of the substantial agreement with Saudi Arabia.
According to information provided by officials from both the United States and "Israel," Netanyahu's aides chose not to delve into the particulars, indicating that the prime minister would discuss it privately with the president.
The White House and the Prime Minister's Office declined to comment.
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When Biden and Netanyahu met, a significant part of their one-hour meeting focused on the Palestinian component of the deal, the US and Israeli officials said.
Biden did not present Netanyahu with a specific list of demands for concessions to the Palestinians. Instead, he conveyed his desire for "Israel" to take actions that would preserve the possibility of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, as relayed by an Israeli official and an informed source familiar with the meeting.
Both the Israeli official and the source briefed on the meeting confirmed that Netanyahu endorsed the idea of taking measures to maintain the potential for a future peace agreement with the Palestinians. However, it's important to note that the deliberations regarding the Palestinian aspect of the Saudi mega-deal are in their early stages, as mentioned by an Israeli official.
That said, the focus will be on determining how to translate the broad concept discussed by Biden and Netanyahu into concrete, practical steps.
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The primary challenge lies in the fact that each side may interpret the overarching concept of preserving the viability of the so-called "two-state solution" differently. This divergence in interpretation could lead to significant differences between the parties when they delve into the specifics of the agreement.
Additionally, Netanyahu communicated to Biden that Palestinian officials should participate in the process of crafting a mega-deal that includes Saudi Arabia-Israeli normalization. However, he suggested that they should not possess the authority to veto certain aspects of the deal, as conveyed by a senior Israeli official.
In a notable development, the newly appointed Saudi ambassador to the Palestinian Authority conducted a visit to Ramallah on Tuesday, where he engaged with President Mahmoud Abbas.
During this encounter, the ambassador expressed Saudi Arabia's commitment to facilitating the "establishment of a Palestinian state with East al-Quds "as its capital.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the Israeli minister of tourism arrived in Riyadh to participate in a conference organized by the World Tourism Organization. This was marked as the first official and public visit by an Israeli minister to the kingdom.
