US senator wants Biden to sweeten Saudi-Israel deal — RT World News

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) called on President Joe Biden's administration to move forward with an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel to help lay the foundation for a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Graham said Sunday in an interview with CNN that the long-awaited normalization of relations between Riyadh and West Jerusalem depends at least in part on Saudi Arabia's desire to conclude a military agreement with the United States. interview. The senator, who has made multiple visits to Saudi Arabia for meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said he spoke about the issue with Biden and senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Saudi Arabia wants to conclude a joint defense agreement with the United States Graham said. “We have been working on this for weeks. To Tony and Jake, continue to complete the deal on the treaty. Without the treaty, Mohammed bin Salman cannot recognize Israel, and part of the deal will be to reach a solution to the Palestinian problem.”

Biden claimed that the progress he made in brokering a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel may have been the motivation behind surprise attacks by Hamas against Israel last October, which sparked the latest war in Gaza. The war between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel, which reportedly killed more than 34,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, derailed West Jerusalem talks with Riyadh.

Graham said that the crisis in Gaza cannot be resolved without first completing the Israeli-Saudi agreement. He added: “If we can reach an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, it would end the Arab-Israeli conflict, isolate the Iranians, create some hope for the Palestinians, and provide security in a real way for Israel.” The legislator argued.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia claims to possess 7% of the world's uranium reserves. Graham said the plans call for the United States to control the enrichment of those reserves as part of Riyadh's proposal to recognize the State of Israel. Such an agreement would build on the so-called Abraham Accords, under which Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel. Sudan and Morocco later signed the agreements.

“I would like to help President Biden get this done.” Graham said. “Without this deal, there is no solution to the Palestinian problem. Without this deal, everything becomes worse. So, let's get the deal done. We're running out of time.”

The administration of Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, brokered the Abraham Accords. In response to a question about whether Trump might try to undermine the Israeli-Saudi deal while running against Biden in this year’s elections, Graham said that the former President “He wants the killing to end.” he added, “We will have elections here in November, but can we save some lives before November?”

Blinken, who travels to Saudi Arabia this week He told CNN On Friday, it was possible to establish a framework for a two-state solution in Israel and normalize relations with Riyadh.