Pursuing Saudi-Israeli Normalization Is a Fool’s Errand
The Biden administration still hasn’t given up on its terrible plan for a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. The Wall Street Journal reports:
The Biden administration is pushing for a long-shot diplomatic deal in coming months that presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a new commitment to Palestinian statehood in exchange for diplomatic recognition by Riyadh, U.S. and Saudi officials said.
The outlines of the deal are the same as they have been for the last year: the U.S. bribes the Saudis with major favors and commitments, the Saudis agree to recognize Israel, and the Israeli government doesn’t have to do much of anything. This was a terrible deal for the United States last year, it was a terrible deal before the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, and it will still be a terrible deal six months from now. The Biden administration would have the U.S. bear the burden of making this deal happen, and in return the U.S. gets saddled with more long-term security commitments to another awful client state.
As bad as the deal is for the U.S. because of the extensive concessions to Saudi Arabia, it’s still far from certain that the Saudis would be willing to go for it. The war in Gaza has made any dealings with Israel politically radioactive in Saudi Arabia and throughout the region. Even a repressive despot like Mohammed bin Salman would be hard-pressed to ignore popular sentiment right now. The crown prince can also afford to wait for a better offer if Trump is voted back in.
The Biden administration has been desperate to lock down a normalization agreement so that Biden has something, anything, that he can point to as a diplomatic success during his campaign, but the agreement is still very unlikely to be concluded. The Israeli government absolutely opposes a Palestinian state. Even if we assume that the Saudis would be willing to accept token gestures in lieu of real concessions, the Israeli government might balk at anything that even hints at statehood.
Read the rest of the article at Eunomia
Daniel Larison is a contributing editor for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter]
.https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2024/04/19/pursuing-saudi-israeli-normalization-is-a-fools-errand/
posted by Satish Sharma at
03:38
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