Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Washington on October 20, US President Joe Biden said that the October 7 attack by the Hamas Islamist movement on Israeli territory that killed more than 1,400 people was aimed at hindering the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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| US President Joe Biden said that Hamas' October 7 attack on Israeli territory was aimed at hindering the process of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. (Source: Japan Times) |
“One of the reasons Hamas attacked Israel is because they knew that I was going to talk to Saudi Arabia about normalizing relations with Israel and that Saudi Arabia wanted to recognize Israel,” President Biden said. “That would actually increase unity in the Middle East.”
Under President Biden, the United States and Saudi Arabia are working on a framework for the kingdom to recognize Israel in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. Publicly, administration officials have sought to downplay rumors of a breakthrough as talks progress, but President Biden is keen on the initiative and sent National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to Saudi Arabia in July.
The possibility of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other Arab states was a top priority for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Riyadh in June, although he acknowledged that immediate progress was unlikely.
Israel has signed diplomatic agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan since 2020, but normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the Middle East, is considered a breakthrough step for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his country.
According to some observers, Saudi Arabia has paused its efforts to normalize relations with Israel. However, this is just a pause, not the end of this process with the mediation of the US.
President Biden's remarks came days after he made a "wartime" visit to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and attend a conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 18.
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