According to an expert, the rapprochement between Riyadh and Jerusalem could bring benefits to the entire Middle East
Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving closer to a peace agreement. This is shown by the recent events of the last week, with a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the United Nations General Assembly on Friday (22) and the historic visit by Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz on Tuesday (26) to the Saudi kingdom for another United Nations conference, the first visit by an Israeli cabinet official to the country in history.
In his speech to the UN Assembly, Netanyahu said that Israel is “on the verge” of signing a historic peace agreement with the Saudis, and defended the Abraham Accords, responsible for stipulating diplomatic ties with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates in 2020, describing the rapprochement between Jerusalem and Riyadh as a new chapter in these treaties, which would bring even more results to the region. Israel also already has ties with Jordan and Egypt as a result of previous treaties.
“This peace will go a long way towards ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. It will encourage other Arab states to normalize their relations with Israel, increase the prospects for peace with the Palestinians and encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam,” the prime minister said in his speech. In his speech to the UN, Netanyahu also used a map of a so-called “New Middle East” to reinforce that, with the new agreement, “we will not just break down barriers between Israel and our neighbors. We will build a new corridor of peace and prosperity linking Asia, through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, to Europe”.
During his visit to the US, Netanyahu also met with President Joe Biden, Elon Musk (owner of X, formerly Twitter) and gave interviews to American TV stations.
The United States helped establish the Abraham Accords, and is currently working on the diplomatic mediation of the new agreement with Saudi Arabia. For the US, the peace treaty would be advantageous, as both countries are its two biggest allies in the Middle East. In an interview with American CNN, Netanyahu said that “Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States share a common goal – to make a quantum leap… We have an opportunity with the United States to change the Middle East forever”.
During negotiations in recent months, the Saudis have communicated that, in exchange for establishing relations with Israel, they want guarantees from the United States of security and assistance for a civilian nuclear program. In addition, the Saudi government has also said that it will only normalize ties with Israel if progress is made on the creation of a Palestinian state. However, even with these requirements still under discussion, rapprochement with Israel is already showing signs of happening in practice, as in the case of the first official visit by a member of the Israeli cabinet to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (26/09).
Haim Katz, Israeli Minister of Tourism, is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia as part of a United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) event. “After 48 years, Israel was chosen to lead a strategic delegation to the event. We were warmly welcomed in Riyadh by the authorities. I estimate that we will meet many delegations at the conference, those with whom we have relations and, I estimate, also those with whom we don’t,” the minister told Ynet, an Israeli news outlet.
In a statement, Katz also stressed that “tourism is a bridge between nations. Cooperation in the field of tourism has the potential to unite hearts and economic progress,” and that he will work to promote cooperation, tourism and Israel’s foreign relations. Next week, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi will also be in Saudi Arabia to take part in an international congress.
According to André Lajst, political scientist and CEO of StandWithUs Brasil, the rapprochement between Tel Aviv and Riyadh could actually be beneficial to the entire region. “An agreement with the Saudis would resolve not only the Arab-Israeli conflict but also Jewish-Islamic relations over holy sites, bring more countries into a possible relationship with Israel in the future and help the environment for a definitive peace agreement with the Palestinians,” he points out.
The Middle East expert also explains that “in recent years, the creation of diplomatic ties between Israel and neighboring countries has grown, with some countries seeking, through these agreements, to achieve greater stability, technology and security. With this diplomatic scenario expanding between nations in the Middle East, the region tends to become increasingly stable in order to face common enemies, such as terrorism and a nuclear Iran.”