Saudi Arabia has told the US it will not maintain any diplomatic relations with Israel until Israeli “aggression” in Gaza stops, Arab media reported.
Also according to Saudi officials, the state insists on recognising an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
On Tuesday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Washington had received information that Saudi Arabia and Israel were ready to continue discussions on normalising relations.
The idea of formally strengthening ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been discussed ever since the Saudis gave their tacit approval to Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to establish ties with Israel in 2020 under the so-called Abrahamic Accords.
Saudi Arabia shelved US-backed plans to normalise relations with Israel, in October 2023, as the war between Palestinian group Hamas and Israeli forces escalated.
Isaac Herzog expressed optimism that the issue of normalising relations with Saudi Arabia could be raised again. In recent days, he gave an interview to Harvard University’s international relations student magazine and mentioned, among other things, the possibility of normalising relations with Saudi Arabia. He said:
The war that started after the 7 October massacre slowed things down, but recently voices have been heard from Riyadh suggesting a return to the previous level.
According to a Reuters report, Saudi officials have persuaded US authorities to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza and commit to a Palestinian state on the “political horizon,” and in return Riyadh would normalise relations with it and help fund the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia recently allowed the passage of ships from Israeli shipping companies seeking a way to circumvent the naval blockade imposed by the Houthis against Israel. When the ships arrive at ports in Bahrain and Dubai, goods from there are transported by truck through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel. Industry experts estimate that over the past month dozens of such trucks have made landfall and brought goods that used to be delivered by sea through the Red Sea.
