Two senior U.S. officials said it's in Saudi Arabia's interest to get a normalization agreement with Israel while President Biden is in office because it would receive more bipartisan political support and legitimacy in Washington, especially when it is likely to include U.S. steps toward Saudi Arabia that would be unpopular.
The article however contained a caveat:
Any deal will likely include a "Palestinian component" that Israel will have to agree to.
- The Saudis said publicly that normalization with Israel will take place only if there is progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
- It is unclear what the Saudis and the U.S. will ask for and how far Netanyahu's far-right government will go to secure a deal.
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Successfully implementing HKOPS seemed the obvious deal that Israel would be asked to negotiate to gain a full peace with Saudi Arabia.
48 hours later that expectation was dashed when the 32nd Regular Session of the Arab League Council - held in Jeddah at the Summit Level under the Chairmanship of MBS - repeated its failed 21 years- old mantra:
We stress the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian issue and find real grounds for achieving peace based on the two-state solution in accordance with international references, mainly the Arab Peace Initiative , relevant international resolutions and the principles of international law, to ensure the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on Palestinian territory on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Ditching HKOPS will only serve to perpetuate the Jewish-Arab conflict – not end it.
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About the Author
David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International - an organisation calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at www.jordanispalestine.blogspot.com.