Saudi Arabia unwilling to normalize ties at present: Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
20 May 2023 00:15
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Israeli media say Saudi Arabia will not hand US President Joe Biden the "gift" of normalizing ties with "Israel".

In this photo provided by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chairs the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, May 19, 2023. (AP)

Israeli media reported, on Friday, that Saudi Arabia does not "want peace with Israel now," adding that "it's time we [Israel] get the hint."

According to Maariv, while it appears that "prospects for peace" between "Israel" and Saudi Arabia remain unchanged, it is "difficult to see a breakthrough in the Saudi channel anytime soon."

According to the outlet, "Israel" would, at this point, be surprised if Saudi Arabia agreed to "warm relations with Israel" anytime soon, not only because of the "Saudi reservations" against the entity but mainly "because of the Americans."

According to Maariv, Saudi Arabia, as a US ally, has expected to receive, at the very least, capabilities that would allow it to compete with Iran.

Riyadh has been, for years, requesting a "greenlight for a nuclear program for peaceful purposes," however, the US has avoided the topic for just as long. As such, Israeli media wrote that Saudi Arabia had "no choice but to fall into the arms of Iran and China."

Moreover, the outlet claimed that given that the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran remained in its early stages and given that there "is a lot of suspicion between them," Saudi Arabia will not seek to sign a normalization agreement with "Israel" fearing that doing so could "disappoint" Tehran and destabilize their relations once again.

However, even if Saudi Arabia was not bound by this new rapprochement, Maariv argued, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman would still "not rush to give President Biden this wonderful gift," especially in the "absence of the nuclear package."

Israeli media reaffirmed that "basically, Israel is a plaything in the hands of the Saudis," and as the relationship between Riyadh and Washington remains "cold", the prospect for normalization diminishes.

Saudi leverages Netanyahu normalization ambitions for US agreements

Earlier, in March, the New York Times published a report arguing that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has outlined a very high price in exchange for normalizing ties with "Israel", given that the Kingdom has little to gain from openly normalizing ties with "Israel" since they already have undeclared agreements that range from shared intelligence to state-of-the-art spyware.

In exchange for normalization, KSA, as outlined by the NYT report, made three primary demands: security guarantees from the US, assistance with developing a civilian nuclear program, and reduced restrictions on US arms sales.

The former US Ambassador to "Israel" during the Clinton era, Martin Indyk, said, “It’s [list of demands] interesting for a number of reasons." Indyk explained that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government challenged the US Biden administration, the Israeli PM can't get what he "badly" wants on his own, "he can only get it with Biden’s help."

Moreover, Indyk said, “That creates a situation where Biden has leverage over Netanyahu to persuade him that nothing good can happen with Saudi Arabia if he allows the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to explode.”