Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is planning to engage with Saudi leaders and officials from other Gulf states on the possibility of the kingdom normalizing its relationship with Israel during his visit to Saudi Arabia this week. This move is supported by the Biden administration, but Blinken has urged that it should not come at the cost of progress between Israelis and Palestinians and a two-state solution. Blinken acknowledged that the process of normalization would not be easy or quick, but believed that the US had a significant national security interest in promoting it. However, normalization has several oppositions due to politics in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the US, and the strategic demands of Saudi Arabia regarding security guarantees from the US, civil nuclear power programs, and additional weapons sales. The Biden administration is trying to gauge whether Prince Mohammed’s conditions are consistent with US security interests and would be approved by Congress. Many lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, want to limit US support of Saudi Arabia due to its human rights abuses, Yemen military killings, and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
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