Report: Saudi Arabia wants ‘significant’ concessions to Palestinians in deal with Israel

A normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel would require “significant progress” on the Palestinian issue, according to a New York Times report. 

The report comes as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan visited Riyadh in yet another attempt to make progress on a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The report cited Israeli officials saying that King Salman “intervened in the negotiations to insist any deal include a clear Israeli move toward the Palestinians,” and that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be satisfied with a promise from Prime Minister Netanyahu for Israel not annex the West Bank.

It’s highly doubtful that Netanyahu’s coalition partners on the far-right, for whom West Bank annexation is a top priority, would accept the reported Saudi demand.

In addition to Israeli concessions, Saudi Arabia is reportedly also looking to get a NATO-like deal with the U.S. that would guarantee American defence support in case of an attack on the Kingdom, as well as purchasing Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antiballistic missile defence system.

Lastly, Saudi Arabia is also asking for permission to develop a civilian nuclear programme, something Israel as well as other countries in the Middle East would have an issue with.

Netanyahu has made it a top priority for his government to include Saudi Arabia in the Abraham Accords, which is only realistic with U.S. mediation and support.

Ties between the U.S. and Israel have, however, suffered several blows in the past six months, mainly over the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul, as well as rising settler terror attacks and racist remarks by ministers in Netanyahu’s security cabinet.

President Biden’s relationship with Saudi Arabia has also been extremely tense since he took office in 2021, after he labeled the Kingdom a “pariah” state due to its involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its war crimes in Yemen.

But the Biden administration has attempted to restore ties with Saudi Arabia in the past year, mainly to convince Riyadh to help lower prices on the energy market by pump more oil.