How Biden is Sabotaging His Peace Deal Between Israel and Saudi Arabia

by Bassam Tawil

• Recently, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after meeting with [Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed] bin Salman that there is "good progress" on Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization talks. "I believe we can reach an agreement which would present an historic opportunity... We had a very good discussion about the work that we've been doing for many months now on normalization, and that work is moving forward. We're continuing to make good progress."
• [T]here is good reason to believe that the Saudis will eventually agree to normalize their relations with Israel. In order for that to happen, however, Hamas, which is strongly opposed to any peace with Israel and does not recognize its right to exist, must be defeated and eradicated.
• It is no secret that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries despise Hamas and consider it a threat to their own national security....
• There is no doubt that the Saudis, together with the UAE, Bahrain and the even the Palestinian Authority, are quietly praying for Israel to finish the job and get rid of Hamas. These Arabs, understandably, cannot express their views in public lest they be accused of "colluding" with Israel.
• Arab states are motivated to sign peace treaties with Israel when they see Israel as a winner.
• By pressuring Israel not to invade Rafah, the US administration is sabotaging its own efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize its ties with Israel...
• By demanding that Israel refrain from entering Rafah, the Biden administration is actually asking Israel to forget about recovering the 130 hostages being raped and tortured by Hamas every day -- which still include six Americans – and to lose the war. This is something that neither Israel nor Hamas's Arab enemies -- nor even Biden -- can afford to accept.

Arab states are motivated to sign peace treaties with Israel when they see Israel as a winner. By pressuring Israel not to invade Rafah, the US administration is sabotaging its own efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize its ties with Israel. Pictured: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 20, 2024. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

When the Iran-backed Hamas terror group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, it not only sought to kill and kidnap Israelis. The group and its patrons in Tehran undoubtedly had other goals in mind, such as thwarting US-sponsored efforts to achieve normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Fortunately, Hamas has so far been unsuccessful in achieving this goal. In addition, Hamas has failed to drive a wedge between Israel and the Arab countries that have peace treaties with it: Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. None of these countries has cut off its diplomatic relations with Israel, despite their harsh criticism of Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip and pressure from the Arab street.

Less than a month before the Hamas assault, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told Fox News that the prospect of normalized relations with Israel was "getting closer every day."

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