AhlulBayt News Agency: US President Donald Trump has urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to move toward normalization with Israel following the Gaza ceasefire, according to US officials.
Axios, citing two US officials, reported that Trump made the request in a phone call last month after the Gaza summit in Egypt, where the ceasefire agreement was signed.
A US official with direct knowledge of the call said Trump told MBS that now that the war had ended, he wanted the crown prince to begin steps toward normalization with Israel.
MBS replied that he was willing to work on the matter with the US administration, according to the official.
US officials told Riyadh they hope for progress on normalization during the upcoming Trump-MBS meeting at the White House next week, though they admitted that gaps between Saudi Arabia and Israel remain significant.
“Our message to the Saudis is: ‘We did all the things you asked for. Now President Trump wants normalization with Israel. How will you move in this direction?’” a senior US official said.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which has fueled anti-Israeli sentiment among the Saudi public, has been a major obstacle to normalization, though not the only one.
US officials believe that some of Saudi Arabia’s other demands for normalization have already been met.
Riyadh has consistently insisted that normalization with Tel Aviv requires a clear, irreversible, and time-bound pathway to a future Palestinian state.
The White House argues that the final clauses of Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan address Palestinian statehood.
The plan states that if the Palestinian Authority carries out reforms during Gaza’s reconstruction, “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
It also promises that the US will establish dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a “political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.”
Former US officials and Arab diplomats doubt that this language satisfies Riyadh’s demands.
A former US official close to Saudi leadership said MBS requires stronger commitments directly from Israel, with tangible steps on the ground, to convince the Saudi public of normalization.
Saudi Arabia has also sought a defense pact with Washington, and Trump is expected to offer a security pledge during MBS’ visit that could serve as a basis for a future treaty.
However, US officials have ruled out any breakthrough on normalization during the visit.
Earlier this month, Trump claimed that Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel without preconditions, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Asked by CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell whether MBS would join the Abraham Accords without a two-state solution, Trump replied: “No, I think he’s going to join. I think we will have a solution. I don’t know if it’s going to be two-state—that’s up to Israel, other people, and me.”
The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed US-brokered normalization deals with Israel in 2020, which Palestinians condemned as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people.”
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