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 municipal beach worker searching Israel’s Mediterranean coastline for items lost by swimmers discovered something far older than expected: an exceptionally rare 2,500-year-old coin minted in ancient Cyprus.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said federal investigators spent approximately eight months locating Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private journals, which Kennedy claimed had been scattered across 11 separate government servers.
Skywatchers are preparing for one of the most remarkable astronomical nights of the decade as a total solar eclipse, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and a broad gathering of six planets converge around August 12.
The United States has condemned the “horrific killing” of nine relatives of Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, a Nigerian pastor whose earlier appeal warned that “fear has become a way of life” in Nigeria’s violence-plagued Plateau State.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War armistice by paying tribute at war memorials and cemeteries, accompanied for the first time by his daughter, Ju Ae, in a move that analysts say further underscores her increasingly prominent public role.
President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran is seeking negotiations after two weeks of sustained American airstrikes, portraying Tehran’s diplomatic outreach as evidence that the U.S. military campaign has forced the Islamic regime back to the bargaining table.
President Donald Trump and three Republican senators are pressing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep the chamber in session through August until lawmakers pass the SAVE America Act, escalating a growing dispute over one of the president’s top election-integrity priorities.