No Saudi defense pact without Israel deal, US says — RT World News

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the United States will not enter into a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia unless the Kingdom recognizes the State of Israel. However, Riyadh has made any recognition deal conditional on the Israelis agreeing to work toward creating a formally independent Palestinian state.

Media reports last week indicated that Washington and Riyadh are close to signing a bilateral security agreement, even as progress toward a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement continues to falter. According to Reuters, the agreement will see the United States enter into a formal alliance with Saudi Arabia and assist in its civil nuclear program in exchange for Riyadh cutting some economic ties with China.

Speaking at a Financial Times event in London on Saturday, Sullivan insisted that no agreement would be possible without Saudi recognition of Israel.

“The integrated vision is a bilateral understanding between the United States and Saudi Arabia accompanied by normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, in addition to meaningful steps on behalf of the Palestinian people.” He said to those present. “It all has to come together…and you can't separate one piece from the other pieces.”

Brokering a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal was a major foreign policy goal of former US President Donald Trump, whose 2020 “Abraham Accords” saw Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates open diplomatic and trade relations with West Jerusalem. US President Joe Biden continued to press for such a deal, but the war in Gaza has frozen negotiations since last October.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry stated in February that the Kingdom would not establish official relations with Israel “Unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip stops, and all Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip.”

Riyadh's conditions are unsuccessful in West Jerusalem, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to continue waging war in Gaza until Israel achieves this. “Total victory” On Hamas. Netanyahu also insisted on this “Complete Israeli security control over the entire region of western Jordan” When the conflict eventually ends, a description that includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said last week that Riyadh and Washington have already done so “Very close” To a defense agreement, but he repeated that there as well “It must be a real path to a Palestinian state” that it “Credible and irreversible.”