The new Ambassador will serve as a principal advisor, coordinating U.S. Government efforts related to expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords, and participating in discussions on the Abraham Accords.
The US House of Representatives has just passed a bipartisan bill to appoint an ambassador with the task of helping promote the process of normalizing relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia.
The bill passed with an overwhelming 413 votes in favor and 13 against.
The new Ambassador will serve as a principal advisor, coordinating U.S. Government efforts related to expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords, and participating in discussions on the Abraham Accords with officials from countries that do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Rep. Mile Lawler said the ambassador would help bring other countries like Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also called on Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations.
Secretary Blinken affirmed that the United States has a genuine national security interest in promoting normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Washington believes that it can and must play an essential role in promoting relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The US Secretary of State said President Joe Biden's administration assessed that full normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel was unlikely to happen "overnight."
However, he made it clear that Washington would actively promote normalization of relations between the two countries when he traveled to Jeddah and Riyadh, meeting with Arab and Gulf partners.
The Times of Israel on June 13 quoted Mr. Fahad Nazer, spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in the US, declaring that the country will not normalize relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is established.
Spokesman Fahad Nazer stressed that Saudi Arabia's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the years has been clear and consistent.
The statement comes as the US steps up efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan also affirmed that normalizing relations with Israel depends on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict .
The US has stepped up efforts to boost ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel following the success of the Abraham Accords, an initiative spearheaded by former President Donald Trump to persuade Arab countries to recognise the Jewish state.
Although Israel and Saudi Arabia have long maintained regular contact at an informal level, Riyadh has refused to recognize Israel, regarding the conflict in the Middle East .
Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on May 30 that reaching an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia was "a long and careful process."
Mr. Lapid affirmed that an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, if any, would not be able to be brought about quickly and unexpectedly like the Abraham agreements.
Instead, it would be “a long and careful process on both sides” and must address “the security concerns of both countries.”
However, Foreign Minister Lapid added that Israel “is coordinating with the United States and a number of Gulf friends, at various levels, of which Egypt is an important partner,” to eventually reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia.
After signing a series of Abraham agreements to normalize relations with four Arab Muslim countries, Israel hopes to continue to develop this momentum with Saudi Arabia - the country considered the "big brother" in the Arab Muslim world.
In early 2020, Israel for the first time allowed its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia in certain cases including pilgrimages and to attend meetings or seek investment opportunities.
In case of work reasons, the stay in Saudi Arabia can be up to 90 days. However, Israelis who want to go to Saudi Arabia still need an invitation letter and consent from the Saudi authorities.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia and Israel even held secret meetings in Washington and London with the mediation of a European partner, and reached a secret deal worth $250 million, according to which Tel Aviv transferred spy technology systems to Riyadh.
Also in 2019, Saudi Arabia purchased Israel's Iron Dome missile defense systems for defense./.
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