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.
Latest News from Worthy News
A growing number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill are warning the Trump administration against reopening the door for Turkey to acquire advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, arguing that such a move would reward an unreliable NATO ally while potentially weakening Israel’s security and exposing sensitive American military technology.
Pakistan’s influential television channel Geo News has apologized after the country’s media regulator suspended its broadcast over content it says could offend religious feelings in the Islamic nation.
Police searched Tuesday for a suspect who allegedly targeted a Ukrainian-born business tycoon and his family with a parcel bomb in the wealthy Mediterranean principality of Monaco, in an attack described by Prince Albert II as “an odious act.”
Christian advocates warned Tuesday that British government plans to ban so-called “conversion therapy” could criminalize parents, pastors, and other believers for expressing Biblical teaching on sexuality and gender.
An Indonesian court sentenced former education minister Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of Indonesia’s largest start-up, Gojek, to 10 years in prison Tuesday in a controversial corruption case that has raised concerns at home and abroad over the country’s legal system.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states may bar transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams, handing a major victory to advocates who have argued that girls’ and women’s athletics must be protected on the basis of biological sex.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship, preserving a long-standing constitutional interpretation that grants U.S. citizenship to most children born on American soil, including those born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country.