Turki Faisal Al Rasheed commented on the Wall street Journal “U.S. Offers Defense Treaty to Saudi Arabia in Effort to Spur Israel Normalization Deal. The White House is making…” U.S. Offers Defense Treaty to Saudi Arabia in Effort to Spur Israel Normalization Deal.
Comments at the wall street journal The White House is making efforts to maintain diplomatic relations in the region amidst stalled talks between Israel and Hamas. The question of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel has been a major topic since President Joe Biden’s visit to the Kingdom in July 2022. The purpose of the visit was to persuade Riyadh to increase oil production and stabilize global oil prices. However, the OPEC+ group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, decreased oil production by 2 million barrels following the visit. In response, the Biden administration has reportedly offered Saudi Arabia a defense pact similar to NATO and a civilian nuclear plant in exchange for limiting cooperation with China and Russia and normalizing relations with Israel. The administration believes that the US Congress would only agree to such a pact if it included the normalization component. Former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, expressed disappointment that Israel rejected Saudi Arabia’s offer of peace, considering Saudi Arabia’s influential role in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Israel cannot ignore the Kingdom’s call for peace based on the 2002 Arab Peace initiative. However, the current Israeli government continues to refuse to acknowledge the new realities that make peace difficult to achieve during the Biden administration’s first term. The US-Saudi relationship should be a priority, but not the sole focus.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/us-saudi-arabia-defense-treaty-israel-palestine-e2cc1821#comments_sector
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