Saudi Arabia is not considering using the price of oil to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to Saudi Arabia’s investment minister Khalid Falih, “Riyadh is trying to reach peace through negotiations,” Bloomberg reported.
However, according to the minister, the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel “remains on the table, regardless of the war” in the Gaza Strip. “However, as before, the talks are conditional on a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue,” Fálih said.
Photo: Israel Defense Forces, Reuters
Israeli soldiers in Gaza
According to the minister, what is happening now in the enclave is a confirmation of “the correctness of the Saudi demand that the solution to the Palestinian conflict be part of a wider normalization in the Middle East.”
With regard to oil reserves, Saudi Arabia, one of the most influential Arab states in the Middle East, found itself in a very difficult situation after the terrorist attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas on Israel and the subsequent military response of the Jewish state.
On the one hand, Riyadh stands for the normalization of relations with Israel, for which it is supposed to receive economic and military support from the United States. At the same time, the leaders of the royal dynasty must not anger their own citizens, who are overwhelmingly on the side of the Palestinians.
Reversing the Saudi deal with the Israelis
The reversal of the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel was, in the opinion of many experts, such as former US admiral and one-time commander of the Allied Forces in Europe James Stavridis, one of the main reasons why Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, murdering 1,400 people and more than two he dragged hundreds to the Gaza Strip as hostages.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Jeddah (July 2022)
A deal to normalize relations, at least according to Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in early October, “was already very close.” There was a real possibility that Saudi Arabia would join the so-called “Abrahamic Accords.”
Within their framework of Muslim countries, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have often recognized Israel’s sovereignty in exchange for Israeli or American concessions of a diplomatic or economic nature.
Israel and Saudi Arabia report progress in normalization talks, with agreement due next year
In addition to access to modern American weapons, the Saudis would probably also gain support in the development of nuclear energy, which was allegedly already discussed during the visit of US President Joe Biden to Jeddah in July 2022.
Normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, including the establishment of diplomatic relations, would also dramatically change the overall situation in the Middle East.
It would formally bring together the two main partners of the United States in the region, whose common enemy in the region is Iran, an ally of the Hamas terrorists.
Saudi Arabia broke off negotiations with Israel
