US to push Saudi-Israel ties
"The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia," he said.
The Biden administration will soon establish a new position aimed at expanding the Abraham Accords, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, while also promising that Washington would continue to push back against settlement building or other activities that could endanger a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
The idea for a point person tasked with shepherding normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours has reportedly been in the works for the past several months. The announcement comes as the Biden administration has begun to prioritise brokering a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Israel’s further integration in the region contributes to a more stable, a more secure and more prosperous region,” Blinken told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). “That’s why President Biden has made it a cornerstone of his Middle East policy.”
The Secretary of State did not elaborate further on the nature of the new position, but a US official confirmed to The Times of Israel last month that former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro’s name has been floated for the post.
Blinken’s appearance came a day before he was slated to travel to Saudi Arabia, where he said he would raise Israel normalisation during his meetings with government officials.
“The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Saudi Arabia is seeking several large concessions from the US in exchange for normalisation. Riyadh has also made clear that any agreement with Israel will have to include a significant gesture for the Palestinians, a senior US official told The Times of Israel in May.
Meanwhile, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz said on Tuesday that he would not join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government in order to help push a normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia over the finish line, but that he would be willing to back it from the opposition.
Netanyahu’s coalition partners, particularly the far-right Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and Noam factions, are ideologically opposed to advancing Palestinian sovereignty, which may force the premier to look for alternate allies to meet potential Saudi demands for normalising ties.
“I think that peace is always a good trend for the State of Israel, and if it needed my back-up for that, it will get my back-up for that, but I will not get into this government,” Gantz said during a webinar with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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