Settler violence in West Bank makes Saudi-Israel deal ‘tougher, if not impossible’

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that settler violence in the West Bank, described as “terror” by the IDF, will make it “a lot tougher, if not impossible” to strike a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“We’ve told our friends and allies in Israel that if there’s a fire burning in their backyard, it’s going to be a lot tougher, if not impossible, to actually both deepen the existing agreements, as well as to expand them to include potentially Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said at a Council on Foreign Relations event.

“It’s also, at least in our judgment as Israel’s closest friend and ally, profoundly not in Israel’s interest for this to happen — both because of the added degree of difficulty that this presents for pursuing normalisation agreements, or deepening them, but also because of the practical consequences,” Blinken added.

Last week’s revenge rampage by settlers against civilian Palestinians drew international condemnation, including by Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

Blinken visited Riyadh last month where one of the priorities was to make progress on normalising ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has made that, arguing that it’s possible to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia before making peace with the Palestinians.

But Saudi Arabia has previously said that any deal with Israel would be conditioned on the Palestinians getting their own state.

Blinken also commented on the bleak prospects of the Palestinian sovereignty, saying: “If Israel were to find itself — either by intent or by accident — responsible for the West Bank with three million Palestinians and 500,000-plus settlers, what is that going to mean in terms of the allocation of resources, including security resources, that Israel otherwise needs to be concerned about when it comes to Gaza, when it comes to Lebanon, when it comes to Iran? It doesn’t really add up.”

Netanyahu’s government has expanded settlement construction in the West Bank significantly in the past six months, approving over 5,000 units this week, as well as legalising outposts, which are both illegal under Israeli and international law.