Trump’s bid to expand normalization agreements face Arab pushback
4 Min Read
As Trump pushes to expand the normalization agreements with "Israel", Arab leaders say that no normalization can proceed without real progress on Palestine.
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US President Donald Trump speaks during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery, Tuesday, November 11, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump hosted officials and diplomats at the White House this month to announce what he described as a breakthrough: Kazakhstan would be joining the normalization agreements, even though it has maintained diplomatic ties with "Israel" for over three decades.
Trump hailed the move as “a major step forward in building bridges across the world.”
The announcement, coming just a month after the Gaza ceasefire agreement, signaled the Trump administration's continued belief that expanding normalization agreements with "Israel" is the path to alleged "regional peace". However, Arab and Muslim leaders, according to The Financial Times, maintain that true peace hinges on a credible roadmap toward Palestinian statehood.
Many in the region, including diplomats and analysts, view Washington's fixation on the normalization agreements as tone-deaf, given the continued humanitarian crisis in Gaza, FT wrote, mentioning that according to regional officials, efforts to stabilize and govern Gaza, as well as progress on Palestinian sovereignty, must precede any new diplomatic deals.
Despite this, Trump’s team insists that countries are “lining up” to join the agreements. At a recent security conference in Bahrain, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed such agreements would "allow for a true, lasting regional stability."
Saudi Arabia shifts tone after war on Gaza
No country better illustrates the changing regional calculus than Saudi Arabia, FT said, adding that before the war on Gaza, Saudi Arabia had been engaged in talks with the Biden administration on a potential normalization agreement with "Israel" in exchange for a US defense pact and cooperation on nuclear energy.
But the scale of destruction in Gaza, and the outrage it generated across the Arab world, has significantly altered Riyadh’s approach. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has accused "Israel" of genocide, has now drawn a firm line, stating that normalization is off the table without credible movement toward a Palestinian state.
"A Palestinian state is a prerequisite for regional integration," said Manal Radwan, a senior Saudi Foreign Ministry official. "We have said it many times."
According to FT, the Saudi Crown Prince is expected to visit the White House next week to sign a more limited defense pact, but it will reportedly exclude normalization steps.
Washington's narrative meets resistance in Manama
Arab and Muslim officials at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain voiced their frustration with the US position, noting that despite the ongoing violence in Gaza and across the region, including "Israel’s" bombardment of Lebanon and occupation of Syrian territory, Washington continues to present normalization with "Israel" as the only viable path to "peace".
One former senior US official noted that MBS would likely continue to publicly stall normalization, citing political costs and the lack of urgency, given the already robust Saudi-Israeli intelligence cooperation behind the scenes, as cited by FT.
Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator, said the crown prince "dangles" the normalization prospect because he understands its personal and political significance to Trump.
Arab leaders reject normalization without ending occupation
While the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan normalized relations with "Israel" in 2020, Saudi Arabia is widely seen as the pivotal actor, as said in the FT report, which adds that Trump's administration has also cited Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, as a potential signatory. But Jakarta, too, has said it will not pursue normalization without a "two-state solution", and only after Riyadh takes that step.
US officials did not clarify the significance of Kazakhstan’s inclusion in the accords, considering it already maintains diplomatic ties with "Israel," and Secretary of State Marco Rubio described it as a stronger “partnership,” while Vice President JD Vance called it largely symbolic.
Meanwhile, key aspects of Trump’s Gaza plan remain stalled, and Arab and Muslim countries have shown no interest in contributing troops to a proposed "stabilization force."
