US-sponsored Saudi-Israeli normalization deal within weeks: Blinken

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 May 2024 21:16

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan engaged in talks with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Dhahran.

Listen

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during Senate Foreign Relations hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2025 for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that the Biden administration might reach a final agreement to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and "Israel" within weeks.

"Those agreements, in principle, are very close to being able to be concluded. Now, of course, we will come to Congress with them when they're ready to be reviewed, but we could be weeks away from being able to conclude them," Blinken said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing.

Blinken mentioned that Saudi Arabia stipulates the restoration of calm in Gaza and a so-called credible pathway to a Palestinian state for normalization to advance.

Previously, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan engaged in talks with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Dhahran.

The discussions revolved around the near-final draft of strategic agreements on diplomatic normalization and the imperative of identifying a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in Palestine.

Similar statements were issued yesterday by the US envoy to occupied Al-Quds.

"There's going to have to be some period of quiet, I think, in Gaza, and there's going to have to be a conversation about how do you deal with the question of the future of Palestinian governance," Ambassador Jack Lew said.

"My view is that strategic benefit is worth taking the risk of getting into that conversation about. But that's a decision that the government of Israel will have to make and the people of Israel will have to make," he told a conference hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) think tank.

On Monday, the US described a bilateral defense pact with Saudi Arabia as "near final." Once completed, it would be part of a broader deal offered to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prompting him to consider making concessions to secure normalized ties with Riyadh.

Netanyahu has long advocated for such a diplomatic achievement. However, seven months into the war on Gaza, a ceasefire remains elusive, and he believes it is too soon to discuss future Palestinian governance.