Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving towards the outline of a historicUS-brokered deal to normalise relations after decades of hostility, theWhite House said on Friday.
President Joe Biden is hoping to transform the Middle Eastlink—and score an election-year diplomatic victory — by securing recognition ofthe Jewish state by Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
“All sides have hammered out, I think, a basic framework for what, youknow, what we might be able to drive at,” National Security Councilspokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“But, as in any complex arrangement, as this will inevitably be, everybodyis going to have to do something. And everybody is going to have tocompromise on some things.”
The United States has urged its Middle East allies Israel and Saudi Arabiato normalise diplomatic relations, following on from similar dealsinvolving the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, recentlysaid that the two sides were getting closer, as did Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahulink.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking security guarantees, including reportedly atreaty, with the United States in return for normalising with Israel.
But the Palestinians have warned that they must be taken into account inany deal, saying there can be no peace in the Middle East without atwo-state solution. APP/AFP
