Saudi Arabia is dedicated to securing a deal and has been willing to negotiate and reduce its Palestinian related demands
Hélène Sallon 23 (Sallon has a master’s degree from Sciences Po Aix and a doctorate from Ecole normale supérieure, both in politics. She is a Lebanon-based journalist on Middle Eastern news and a regional correspondent for the Middle East with Le Monde,) “Normalization with Israel: Saudi Arabia shows signs of openness,” Le Monde, June 13, 2023, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/06/13/normalization-with-israel-saudi-arabia-shows-signs-of-openness_6031069_4.html/CR
Normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a priority for Joe Biden's administration, was at the heart of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Riyadh from June 6 to 8. The Americans have given themselves until the end of the year, before being caught up in the 2024 presidential campaign, to make progress on this issue, which is also a priority for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The monarchy, which is in return negotiating for increased military cooperation with Washington and support for its civilian nuclear program, is showing signs of opening up.
"It's quite clear that we believe that normalization [with Israel] is in the interest of the region, that it would bring significant benefits to all," said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday. "But without finding a pathway to peace for the Palestinian people, without addressing that challenge, any normalization will have limited benefits. And therefore, I think we should continue to focus on finding a pathway toward a two-state solution, on finding a pathway toward giving the Palestinians dignity and justice," added Farhan.
The choice of words is not insignificant. By speaking of a simple "pathway to peace," the Saudi foreign minister seems to be indicating that Riyadh is prepared to scale down its demands: The creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders would no longer be a prerequisite for normalization with Israel. This condition was established in Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's peace initiative, approved by the countries of the Arab League in 2002.