By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
RIYADH/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Saudi Arabia has softened its position on Palestinian statehood, telling Washington that “a public commitment” from Israel to a two-state solution “could be enough” for the Gulf kingdom to normalize relations with the Jewish nation, according to Saudi and Western officials.
In remarks Friday, the officials also announced that Riyadh abandoned its pursuit of an “ambitious defense treaty” with Washington and sought “a more modest military cooperation agreement” in return for regular ties with Israel.
According to Western diplomats familiar with his thinking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views normalization with Saudi Arabia as a historical milestone and a sign of broader acceptance in the Arab world.
But he faces opposition at home to any concessions to Palestinians in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed some 1,200 people.
And with public anger in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East mounting over Israel’s strikes against Hamas in Gaza, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has again made recognition of Israel conditional on it taking concrete steps to create a Palestinian state.
Yet, with U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump soon becoming dealmaker-in-chief, Riyadh and Washington hope a more modest defense pact could be sealed before Joe Biden leaves the White House on January 20.
A full-blown U.S.-Saudi treaty would need to pass the U.S. Senate with a two-thirds majority, and this would be a non-starter unless Riyadh recognizes Israel, several sources said.
However, Trump has made it clear that he wants to extend the Abraham Accords, which already include agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain, on September 15, 2020.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A Ukrainian man was detained Wednesday in Croatia over the 2022 undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, authorities said, a development that raised questions over Ukraine’s role in the attack against key infrastructure of European allies.
A new U.S. Census Bureau analysis has identified more than 24,000 people who voted in the 2020 general election as noncitizens at the time they cast their ballots, prompting President Donald Trump to renew his call for stricter election-integrity laws.
The Trump administration has cleared the final judicial obstacle blocking its campaign to terminate Temporary Protected Status for migrants from a series of countries, potentially ending deportation protections for roughly one million people, according to The Washington Times.
Indonesia’s 81st Independence Day was overshadowed by grief as the death toll from the weekend’s massive earthquake rose to at least 68 and thousands were still awaiting aid on the hard-hit Indonesian island of Flores.
Ukraine faced another night of potentially deadly strikes as it struggled to defend itself after Russia and Ukraine traded some of their most intense aerial attacks of the war, with at least 10 civilians reported killed in northeastern Ukraine and hundreds of Ukrainian drones targeting Russia.
Nuclear material has been discovered in Syria and placed under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, reviving attention on a clandestine nuclear program that Israel destroyed nearly two decades ago.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on a growing national battle over whether states may require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public-school classrooms, potentially setting the stage for a major First Amendment ruling.