FM: Israel looks to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia under Trump administration

Israel may establish relations with Saudi Arabia while Donald Trump is still president of the US, according to Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar.

“We are aiming for closer ties [with Saudi Arabia]. But we know that this goal is hard to achieve while there is war,” he said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, per Caliber.Az.

Sa'ar noted that such a rapprochement "will most likely become possible" as long as Donald Trump remains president, though it will occur "a bit later."

In January, Trump's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, stated that the president plans to expand the "Abraham Accords" to normalize the situation in the Middle East by including Saudi Arabia. According to him, the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia "would be a huge achievement."

In September 2024, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, stated that his country would not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, later stated that Israel would never agree to the creation of a Palestinian state, as it would jeopardize its own existence.

The "Abraham Accords" were reached in 2020 during Trump’s previous presidential term. This series of agreements normalized relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain.

Subsequently, Sudan and Morocco also announced the normalization of relations with Israel. Before these accords, Israel only had diplomatic relations with two Arab countries: Egypt and Jordan.

By Tamilla Hasanova