Bloomberg Network reported, citing informed sources, that the White House is considering concluding two official defense treaties with Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of an American plan to reach normalization of relations between the two sides.
According to sources familiar with the positions of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden believes that submitting a comprehensive security treaty to both Riyadh and Tel Aviv may be a way to normalize relations between them and achieve an “important diplomatic achievement” for the American president.
According to what the American news network reported on Thursday, Saudi Arabia informed the American side that it wants a deal that goes beyond the one reached with Bahrain.
It quoted Ali Al-Shihabi, a Saudi commentator familiar with the talks, that the joint defense treaty between Saudi Arabia and the United States would benefit all Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The sources stated that Washington and Riyadh reached a broad consensus on the security and nuclear aspects, but there are still many details that need further work.
In this context, an American official said that any nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia would meet strict American standards regarding nuclear non-proliferation.
Looking forward to a formal agreement
On the other hand, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the UAE, expressed his country’s aspiration for an official defense agreement with the United States, according to what was reported by the account of the UAE embassy in Washington on the “X” platform.
Gargash said – during a symposium on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York on Wednesday – that “it is important to move from an informal understanding to a formal commitment.”
In September 2020, Israel signed normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, before Morocco and Sudan joined them in the same year, and were known as the “Abraham Accords.”
These agreements angered the Palestinians, and they described them as “betrayal” and a violation of the Arab consensus that made resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a condition for peace with Israel.
