Israel, Saudis react furiously to ‘normalization’ whispers

Alameen Templeton
Ugh! It’s like they were caught kissing in public. Israel and Saudi Arabia are Wednesday denying furiously that they’ve reconciled and are once again walking hand-in-hand down the garden path to normalisation.
Loose-lipped sources Tuesday told Israeli media outlet Haaretz the infamous Netanyahu-MBS bromance was blossoming again after the couple agreed Palestinian statehood was not that important.
Marriage of convenience
Instead of making Palestinian statehood with Al-Quds as its capital a condition for normalising relations with the Nazi state (by that, in this instance, we mean Israel and not the kingdom, but we can understand the confusion), the two have decided an ill-defined Israeli commitment to a “path towards Palestinian statehood” will be good enough to tie the knot.
Sources close to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu say crown prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) has “no personal interest in formal recognition of a Palestinian state and only requires progress on the issue to secure domestic political and religious support for the deal”.
Naturally, anyone close to Netanyahu has probably been dosed with a toxic inability to tell the truth by merely being in his presence, but the comment does eerily echo a claim made by US secretary of state Antony Blinken in October. Then, Blinken claimed MBS and several other Arabian leaders had made it clear after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in 2023 that they cared nothing for Hamas and urged the Israelis to finish them off.
MBS allegedly told Blinken: “I want the problems caused by October 7 to disappear. A Palestinian state must be established before normalization with Israel. I do not want that, but I need it to justify normalization. I want to return to Vision 2030 by normalizing with Israel. Gaza must be calm first for us to normalize with Israel.
‘I don’t care about Palestine’
“Seventy percent of my population is younger than me. For most of them, they never really knew much about the Palestinian issue. And so they’re being introduced to it for the first time through this conflict. It’s a huge problem. Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do, so I need to make sure this is meaningful.”
However, Blinken made the embarrassing revelations after Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan had condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
Blinken also revealed Bin Farhan had told him after October 7: “The terrorist groups are not only trying to eliminate Israel, but they also want to overthrow other Arab leaders. We are concerned about what the Israeli operation will do to all of our security, and what comes after Hamas may be worse.”
Markaz Sahaba questioned at that time if Blinken was trying to pull his reluctant Arabian allies into line by breaching diplomatic protocol and leaking embarrassing details of confidential conversations.
“The meetings Blinken held with Arab leaders would have been subject to rules of utmost confidentiality. These revelations are an egregious transgression of all diplomatic protocols at the highest level and underline just how low relations are between the White House and Riyad are at the moment,” a source close to Biden told Markaz Sahaba at the time.
The same rules would also apply to any talks Netanyahu’s office may, or may not, have shared with MBS and the same questions then arise – why is Israel making these “revelations” now?
‘A complete lie’
Saudi officials reacted like scalded cats Wednesday: ““The notion that the kingdom’s leadership has somehow modified its longstanding commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is equally baseless,” a Saudi official said in a statement.
Netanyahu’s office described the claim as “a complete lie”. His right-wing “coalition partners” had exploded on receiving the news Netanyahu was preparing to establish a Palestinian state, Middle East Eye reports. They see all of Arabia as part of “Greater Israel” which is anathematic to any notions of independent, Palestinian statehood.
It may be that US president Joe Biden and his genocide sidekick, Blinken, are trying to salvage some “wins” out of the Gaza bloodbath as Biden’s time in the Oval Office runs out. With just 31 days left until Donald Trump settles in on January 20, Biden may be trying to secure what would be a landmark normalisation deal before his administration ends in total infamy.
The leaks come as indirect talks between Hamas and Israel are inching closer to a deal for a Gaza ceasefire.
On Tuesday, sources told Reuters a deal was “expected to be signed in the coming days”.
That “ceasefire” is temporary, only for 90 days, and Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has threatened the genocide will continue afterwards.
Biden may be hoping to float a permanent normalisation deal on top of the feel-good factor that may accompany a brief quietening of the guns.
Desperate man drowning
Hamas said Tuesday there were “serious and positive discussions taking place in Doha” and that a deal was “possible” if Israel stopped introducing new conditions, Middle East Eye reports.
That’s a big “if” and there are plenty of “buts” also floating around amidst the body parts and other gruesome flotsam bobbing in Biden’s wake, but when you’re a desperate man inching towards the grave where at least 45 059 Gazan victims lie in wait, you’ll try anything.