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
Scores of Colombian soldiers were feared dead and dozens injured after a military transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the country’s remote southern Amazon region, officials said Monday, as Colombia’s defense minister urged prayers for those affected in the largely Catholic country.
Iran on Monday denied claims by U.S. President Donald J. Trump that Washington and Tehran were engaged in “good and productive conversations” toward a potential agreement that could bring “longtime peace” for Israel.
Two pilots were killed and at least a dozen people were injured, including nine who were hospitalized, after an Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, authorities confirmed Monday, in a crash that shut down one of the United States’ busiest aviation hubs.
Israel’s expanding military campaign inside Iran is now focusing on key pressure points within the regime’s internal control system—specifically targeting checkpoints and street-level enforcement units—in what analysts believe could open the door for a broader uprising against the Islamic government, according to an exclusive report by the Epoch Times.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States will delay planned military strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for five days, signaling a potential diplomatic opening in a rapidly escalating Middle East conflict.
A prominent pro-Kremlin blogger who once championed Russia’s war effort has dramatically reversed course—publicly denouncing President Vladimir Putin before reportedly being placed in psychiatric care, according to a report by Deutsche Welle.
Slovenia, the birthplace of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, held a closely contested parliamentary election Sunday, with populist opposition leader Janez Janša — an ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — running neck-and-neck with the ruling liberal party.