2023-07-09 16:38:07
The British Economist magazine reported that the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, wants to obtain US nuclear weapons and technology in exchange for normalization with Israel, and these are demands that are unlikely to be achieved.
Amr Al-Shobaki, advisor to Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believes in statements to Al-Hurra that it is difficult to achieve normalization by only obtaining these American guarantees, considering that this issue may be only one of the factors helping to conclude an agreement.
Under the title “What does Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman want from Joe Biden,” the newspaper stated that after the “Abraham Accords,” Saudi Arabia remained the “grand prize,” but talk of Saudi-Israeli normalization subsided, since last December, after Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power.
The report says that it is an “inopportune moment” to conclude a normalization agreement, as Israel has a hard-right government, which was recently accused by the Arab League of committing “war crimes” after the Jenin operation in the West Bank.
However, US President Joe Biden’s administration wants to seal a deal by the end of the year.
Recently, his aides traveled to the kingdom to ask Mohammed bin Salman about his demands for a deal.
And the prince had a “ready answer”: the kingdom wants weapons, a security agreement, and assistance in the kingdom’s nuclear program. “In other words, it will not be a Saudi-Israeli agreement more than a Saudi-American one.”
And in an interview With CNN, broadcast on Sunday, and in response to a question about whether the United States will conclude a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and provide it with civilian nuclear capabilities, Biden said: “We are far from that.”
“Whether or not we will provide a means for them to obtain civilian nuclear energy or not and / or be a guarantor of their security, I think that is a long way off,” Biden added in the interview with the (GPS) program presented by Fareed Zakaria.
And the Wall Street Journal revealed, in a report, last month, that the Kingdom is seeking to obtain security pledges and nuclear assistance from the United States in return for normalization with Israel.
The newspaper quoted people familiar with the discussions between the two countries, saying that Riyadh had asked Washington to provide security guarantees and help develop its civil nuclear program, in conjunction with the United States seeking to mediate the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and Israel.
The Saudi political analyst, Mubarak Al Aati, said in previous statements to Al-Hurra website that the Saudi position towards normalization “was still clear and consistent, which is that Israel believes in the right of the Palestinians to establish a Palestinian state next to Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the 1967 borders.”
The analyst believes that this condition still exists, and Riyadh is sticking to it.
The Economist says that there is “shyness” in Riyadh about normalization, but in recent months, experts have become increasingly convinced that there is a real chance of reaching an agreement.
The kingdom has long insisted that it can only recognize Israel if Israel accepts the Arab Peace Initiative launched in 2002, which offered normal relations between Arab countries and Israel in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
But Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, did not mention that, last month, at a press conference in Riyadh accompanied by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The Economist report indicates that Saudi Arabia wants to reach a stronger defense agreement with Washington, in a way that obligates the United States to protect the kingdom and wants to facilitate approvals for the sale of American weapons to the Kingdom, and obtain American assistance in establishing a civilian nuclear program that includes the establishment of uranium enrichment facilities inside the Kingdom.
It is not surprising that Washington is involved in responding to the demands of Arab countries to facilitate the process of normalization, as it did with Egypt, which has provided it with more than $50 billion since the conclusion of the peace agreement with Israel, in 1979, as former President Donald Trump promised the UAE to sell F-150 aircraft. 35 for the UAE to encourage it to sign the “Abraham Accords”.
But Saudi demands are unlikely to be met, as any formal defense treaty must be ratified by the Senate, and the House “rarely ratifies anything now.”
Arms deals often require congressional approval, and lawmakers from both parties are currently wary of sending weapons to Saudi Arabia.
The nuclear program will be more controversial. Allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium after Iran has enriched uranium to a level that could reach weapons-grade levels would raise fears of a regional arms race.
Al-Shobaki considers that there are other factors that will push Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, including Israel’s making concessions and resolving the Palestinian issue, and he will encourage these proposals to see the light.
On Friday, the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, revealed a plan it described as secret that the United States, along with Israel, put forward to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including the establishment of a land bridge linking the two countries with the port of Haifa via Jordan.
The newspaper’s report indicated that the “ambitious” plan aims to facilitate the movement of goods and reduce costs in the region, in addition to allowing, at a later stage, that the project also serve tourism purposes.
However, the former advisor at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Salem Al-Yami, confirmed that such a step comes within the framework of the American and Israeli method of presenting temptations, to which the Kingdom will not be “submissive,” as he put it, pointing out in statements to Al-Hurra that Riyadh is clear on such an idea and linked any Cooperation in the political solution to the Palestinian issue.
The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Rima Bint Bandar Al Saud, said last month that the kingdom is focusing on integration with Israel, not just normalization, noting that this is within the framework of the prosperity and integration of the entire region. It considered that the illegal settlements being built by the Netanyahu government raise a “problem” and complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.
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