Saudi Arabia to normalise ties with Israel by January: claims US

In a bombshell revelation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Saudi Arabia is set to normalise ties with Israel by January next year.

The US official made the announcement in a press conference at the US Chief of Mission Residence in Port Au Prince.

“The ceasefire is an essential prerequisite to being able to move forward with normalisation,” he said. “Second, as we’ve discussed, is a credible pathway for a Palestinian state.  A lot of work would have to go into that.

“But given all the work that we’ve done, the United States has done with Saudi Arabia over the last year in terms of what would be required between us, given the fact that both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and in conversations with us, have expressed clearly that it’s something they’d like to pursue, I think if we can get the ceasefire in Gaza, there remains an opportunity through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalisation,” Blinken said.

Back in 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco made rapprochement deals with the Israel thanks to efforts from the US.

Since, then Washington is trying to bring Riyadh and Tel Aviv closer.

Back in July 2023, the Biden administration announced that a normalisation deal might be on the horizon following National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s talks with Saudi officials.

However, in September, the progress to lock the deal was halted after Israeli cabinet’s unwillingness to make any concessions to the Palestinians.

Months later into the ongoing war on the Gaza strip, according to Reuters, Riyadh was “putting US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice.”

Moreover, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had said he feared facing “assassination” if he pursued normalization deal with Israel.