White House officials in Saudi for "Israel" normalization talks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Oct 2023 20:56

Two anonymous sources tell Axios that senior US officials visited Riyadh to discuss a possible normalization deal between "Riyadh" and "Tel Aviv".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the APEC Leader's Informal Dialogue with Guests during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC summit, November 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)

According to Axios, US President Joe Biden's administration members visited Saudi Arabia last week in a secret trip to discuss possible normalization with the Israeli occupation.

Two anonymous sources revealed that officials included were National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein.

The sources indicated that McGurk and Hochstein met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) along with other top Saudi officials to discuss the deal and other regional and bilateral concerns.

Saudi Arabia has been reportedly seeking US assistance to develop a civilian nuclear program as part of ongoing talks brokered by the US aimed at normalizing relations between Riyadh and "Tel Aviv".

In a related context, Shlomo Karhi became the second Israeli occupation cabinet member to publicly visit Saudi Arabia this week, leading a 14-person delegation to a United Nations meeting.

During a Wednesday visit, the Israeli Minister of Communications praised "blossoming ties" with the kingdom.

Karhi told the meeting of the Universal Postal Union, a specialized UN agency intended to facilitate international cooperation in the postal sector, that "Israel" appreciated the efforts of the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "for nurturing the blossoming ties" between the two sides.

Karhi called the US-brokered Abraham Accords for normalization "monumentally transformative".

Last week, in a landmark, first-ever visit, Israeli occupation Tourism Minister Haim Katz arrived in Riyadh, marking a significant step toward normalization between the Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia.

The visit comes after a recent statement by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who admitted that Saudi Arabia was getting closer to normalizing ties with the Israeli occupation.

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.