Saudi Arabia halts normalization talks with 'Israel': Reports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Elaph
17 Sep 2023 15:19
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Saudi Arabia's decision to pause normalization talks with "Israel" has been driven by the Israeli internal political crisis among other factors.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, (2nd R), Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, (R), and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, (L), attend the Ministerial meeting for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, on the sidelines of a family photo session, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 8, 2023 (AP)

Saudi Arabia has informed the Biden administration that it will halt normalization talks with "Israel", the Saudi Elaph news website reported quoting an unnamed Israeli official.

The official who works at the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that the possibility of an agreement has been nullified as far-right figures, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government are against any sort of rapprochement with the Palestinians, and thus with the Saudis.

"Saudi Arabia has intelligently brought the Palestinians into the talks to control the form of the agreement with the Israelis, its timing, and the demarcation of their (Palestinian Authority's) independent state's borders without external interference and without Israeli imposition, as they tried to do in the Abraham Accords [normalization agreements], which failed to reach any agreement with the Palestinians," the Saudi news website reported.

Furthermore, the Israeli official cited by Elaph emphasized that the United States has informed the Israelis of Saudi Arabia's decision to "halt any talks with Americans regarding normalization or taking any step towards Israel, and the Israeli leadership is in a state of confusion," knowing that many experts, ministers, and even the Prime Minister had previously believed that Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with them without considering Palestinian demands.

Elaph deemed the Wall Street Journal's news piece on a meeting held in Riyadh between Netanyahu and Saudi officials as fake news leaked by Israeli Minister of "Strategic Affairs", Ron Dermer.

The website also said that such a high-level meeting would only take place if all hope of a deal being closed had collapsed.

The expert on Israeli internal affairs whom Elaph cited says that Netanyahu is extremely furious about the leaked information regardless of its credibility since it indicates his desperation to pressure Saudi Arabia into normalization at a critical phase during his term as Prime Minister.

Reports from the Israeli media suggest that Saudi Arabia has put forth a series of demands that the current Israeli government deems extremely challenging, if not impossible, to fulfill. Among these demands are "Israel's" consent to uranium enrichment, the building of a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes, the formation of a defensive alliance between Riyadh and Washington, and various other demands.

The Israeli Walla! website reported that Blinken told Cohen that it would be really difficult for Washington to enhance the terms of the deal, given the Israeli government's ongoing efforts to enact reforms and laws that have plunged "Israel" into a deep political crisis.