Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving towards a historic US-brokered deal to normalise diplomatic ties, the White House said on Friday. US President Joe Biden hopes to score an election-year diplomatic victory by securing recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia next year. “All sides have hammered out, I Read more…
Ahead of Labour’s annual conference next week, LFI has released its latest policy pamphlet: Britain and the Middle East: Priorities for the Next Labour Government exclusively in the Guardian today. Priorities for the next Labour government Britain and the Middle East: Priorities for the Next Labour Government offers 26 policy recommendations to a wide Read more…
As the UN General Assembly convened last week, longstanding speculation around the potential for a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia has reached a fever pitch. What happened On Wednesday, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman claimed in an interview with Fox News that “every day we get closer” to his Read more…
US secretary of state Antony Blinken claimed last week that any potential normalisation agreement between the Saudis and Israel would have to include steps towards a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Blinken stressed his view that if the Israel-Saudi normalisation process is “to move forward, the Palestinian piece is going Read more…
In today’s House of Lords debate on UK support for the Abraham Accords, two Labour peers urged the UK government to more proactively support the Accords on the global stage. Lord Mendelsohn declared the Accords “one of the single most transformational moments in the Middle East”, and urged the UK Read more…
Officials from the Palestinian Authority have demanded hundreds of millions of dollars and more control of land in the West Bank during talks in Riyadh with Saudi counterparts as part of the three-way deal involving the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel. The deal would involve Saudi recognition of Israel and Read more…
One million Israelis have visited the United Arab Emirates since the signing of the 2020 Abraham Accords. Speaking to the Jewish News, Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat said: “almost one-in-ten Israelis has visited the UAE since the end of 2020”. There are currently more than 200 weekly flights between the Read more…
Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that there was a relatively short “window of opportunity” for Israel to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia in the coming months, adding that Jerusalem was optimistic about the likelihood of a deal. “We are very optimistic about the possibility of achieving such Read more…
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, said on Thursday that Riyadh normalising ties with Israel would bring significant benefits to the Middle East region, but that those benefits would be restricted in the absence of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We believe that normalisation is in the Read more…
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia this week, with improving ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia on the agenda for talks. Blinken “will discuss US-Saudi strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues including economic and security cooperation”, the State Read more…
The Biden administration reportedly wants the Israeli government to halt its judicial reforms and restart peace talks with the Palestinian Authority in order for the US to make progress with brokering normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The past week has seen a number of reports that Jerusalem and Riyadh Read more…
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said last week that the Biden administration would consider diplomatic normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia as being in its national security interest, underlining American commitment to expanding the 2020 Abraham Accords. Sullivan’s comments went further in support of ties between Jerusalem and Riyadh Read more…