Abraham Accords: US NSA, Saudi Crown Prince MBS discussed 'normalising ties' with Israel

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the ‘normalization of ties' with Israel during his recent interaction with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sept. 27 meeting in Neom, a city in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, at least three US and Arab sources told Axios. Interestingly, the Saudi Crown Prince did not reject the proposal, sources familiar with the development informed the network. 

MBS agreed to discuss normalizing ties with Tel Aviv, as well as improving the bilateral ties between the US and Saudi Arabia following the Biden administration’s public accusations against the Kingdom for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The latter, however, reportedly handed Sullivan a list of some steps that the US needed to take for the normalization of relations with Israel. Axios report speculated that the list may carry the conditions for Israel to fix the Palestinian issue.

The two counterparts also discussed broadening the historic Abraham Accords by bringing Saudi Arabia as one of the signatories. Although, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan’s meeting with Secretary of State Tony Blinken last Thursday in Washington did not have either of the two officials mention a word about the Abraham Accords or the ties with Israel.  Report suggests that the Biden administration officials have revealed to the Israeli officials that the US has "quietly" been engaging Arab and other Muslim countries to normalize ties with Israel. 

US 'will encourage more countries' to join accord, Blinken said 

During the one-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords on September 15 signed between Bahrain, Morocco, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Blinken said that the countries in Mideast and Israel “must build on these relationships and growing normalization to make tangible improvements in the lives of Palestinians, and to make progress toward the longstanding goal of advancing a negotiated peace.” He added that Biden administration “will continue to build on the successful efforts of the last administration to keep normalization marching forward.” Without naming Saudi Arabia, Blinken had indicated that the US was “encouraging more countries to follow the lead of the Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.” 

Abraham Peace Accord was negotiated by the former US President Trump’s son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner, who, back in March also wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal advising President Joe Biden on Middle East policy. Kushner explained that Trump-era Abraham Accords “set the table to unleash the Middle East’s potential, keep America safe, and help the region turn the page on a generation of conflict and instability.” He then advised the Biden administration “to be smart” and see opportunities that Trump had “served” in the middle east region by striking a historic peace deal between four Arab states and Israel. 

Signed on Sept. 15, Abraham Accord was a “momentous pact” that dawned a new era of “beginning of several future peace accords to strengthen peace within the region,” the White House stated. The deal was signed in presence of the ex-US commander-in-chief and former President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Israel’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al Zayani of the Kingdom of Bahrain.