Riyadh ready to work with next US president to deliver historic foreign policy wins
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Foreign Minister, speaking at the United Nations. (photo credit: Saudi Press Agency)
WASHINGTON, DC — Speculation has been growing in recent months in the media and in political circles in Washington and around the world that the prospects for an historic and transformative peace and normalization agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Israel were dead and buried after October 7th.
Likewise, there has been speculation that the prospect of a new, significant, and enduring defense alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia has been seriously diminished.
But ALL ARAB NEWS can report that such rumors are wrong.
I’ll explain why in a moment — first, some context.
A LONG, HOT, CRUEL SUMMER
Earlier this year, a deal to achieve both looked imminent.
The Biden team had invested hundreds of hours in behind the scenes negotiations both on the Saudi-Israeli front, and on hashing out the terms of a US-Saudi defense pact that could be confirmed by the Senate.
But several factors detailed both.
First, it’s been a long, hot, cruel summer on the media front. Constant images on Al Jazeera and other regional TV networks showing the pain and destruction in Gaza and southern Lebanon have fueled growing grassroots anger in the Arab world against Israel.
Second, the implosion of President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign after his disastrous performance in the July debate with former President Donald J. Trump meant that everyone in the White House had to focus on damage control and then on helping Vice President Kamala Harris secure her party’s nomination once Biden announced his withdrawal from the campaign.
The third factor was the determination, unsuccessful though they have been, of Secretary of State Tony Blinken and CIA Director Bill Burns to forge a back channel deal to get the hostages out of Gaza.
There simply hasn’t been any additional bandwidth at the White House, in the State Department, or at Langley to focus on anything else.
MBS IS UNDETERRED
ALL ARAB NEWS has learned, however, from well-placed sources in the Biden-Harris administration, Congress, and in the Arab world that Riyadh is undeterred.
The Saudi leadership has not given up.
To the contrary, precisely due to the explosion of Iranian aggression and violence in the region —and the fact that Tehran is right on the verge of a nuclear weapons breakout — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is more determined than ever to finalize an historic defense alliance with the United States and an historic normalization agreement with Israel.
He wants a NATO-esque regional alliance against the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxy forces.
He also urgently wants to help restore calm in the region that will be good for business, trade, tourism, and economic growth.
THE PALESTINIAN FACTOR
To be sure, MBS also wants to help the Palestinians chart a realistic pathway forward to build a free, safe, and prosperous post-war society in the Gaza Strip.
Indeed, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia sees this as a necessary step towards the creation of a peaceful and prosperous Palestinian state that links Gaza with the West Bank but doesn’t endanger the security of Egypt, Jordan, or Israel.
What’s more, given such deep and widespread sympathy for the Palestinian people throughout the kingdom and the rest of the Arab/Muslim world, the Saudis are actively working behind the scenes with a range of other Arab countries in plans to radically reform the Palestinian Authority and rebuild Gaza once the war is over.
But any speculation that MBS has abandoned his goal of striking a grand bargain with the Americans and Israelis that he believes will dramatically advance core Saudi national interests — including guarding the kingdom from Iranian aggression — is entirely off base, I’m told.
TRUMP OR HARRIS? RIYADH READY FOR EITHER
The big question that the Saudis — and every government in the Middle East and North Africa— are asking is this: Who will be the next President of the United States, Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris?
The Saudis are not taking sides, of course.
They have much more experience with Trump.
They have less direct and detailed experience with Harris.
But they are hoping that whoever wins will want some big foreign policy wins — especially in the Middle East — and quickly.
From my vantage point, I would say that Riyadh is signaling to all sides that they stand ready to deliver.
Joel C. Rosenberg
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of All Arab News. He is a New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical who lives in Jerusalem.
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