Question:
On 21/9/2023, BBC News Arabic broadcast on its website: (The Saudi Crown Prince announced in an interview with the American Fox News network, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday, that the Kingdom is “making progress” towards normalization with Israel. He said: “Every day we are getting closer and closer to normalization of relations with Israel.” He added, “There is support from the administration of President Biden to reach that point…”). A Jewish delegation had participated publicly in Saudi Arabia: (The Israeli authorities expressed their happiness at the presence of a government delegation in Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) in Riyadh, considering it a first step on the path to normalization between the two countries (France 24, 11/9/2023). Is Saudi Arabia about to follow the Arab treason agreements and build relations with the Jewish entity?
Answer:
To make the answer clear, we will review the following matters:
First: According to circulating news, the parties to the normalization process are the Jewish entity, Saudi Arabia, and America, and there are facts related to the three parties:
1- The Jewish entity considers that any normalization with any country in the Arab and Islamic region a major achievement to establish the existence of the Jewish entity and make it “eternal” according to their wishes. Therefore, all the governments of the Jewish entity are racing to find any loophole through which they can gain access to Islamic countries, especially Arab ones.
2- As Saudi Arabia is one of the governments of the region that does not see the fighting of Jews to liberate all of Palestine, the Saudi government has been maintaining some contacts with the Jewish entity for some time, but clandestinely. Therefore, Saudi Arabia does not mind in principle establishing relations with the Jewish entity. Indeed, its former King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the one who launched the Arab ‘Betrayal’ Initiative in 2002, and Saudi Arabia continuously declares its adherence to it.
3- On America’s part, all American administrations have been working for decades for ‘peace’ between the Jews and their Arab ruler neighbours in order to stabilize the Jewish entity, integrate it into the region, and remove its foreignness. The two American parties (Democrat and Republican) do not disagree on this.
Second: Despite of this ground that holds potential to normalize by the three normalization parties, yet this issue is fraught with major political complications:
1- Through his public opposition to the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015 and his incitement in the US Congress against it, Netanyahu became opposed to the policy of then US President Obama regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, and this led to the contamination of the relations of the Jewish entity with the US Democratic Party. When President Trump and his Republican administration came to power in Washington at the beginning of 2017, relations between the Jewish entity and the Republican administration in Washington started to come to life, which gave the entity recognition of Jerusalem as its capital, and the American embassy was transferred to Jerusalem and it also recognized its annexation of the Golan.
When a new democratic administration led by Biden returned to power at the beginning of the year 2021, relations between Tel Aviv and Washington became cold again. In fact, the Biden administration refused to receive Netanyahu in the White House until recently after arranging the relationship again. Among Netanyahu’s electoral promises was normalization with Saudi Arabia. It was recently revealed that there were actual contacts between Netanyahu and Bin Salman [the Israeli Jerusalem Post Newspaper said, Monday, 22/5/2023, that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke on the phone with the Saudi Crown Prince twice during the past weeks… and Riyadh presented a list of demands to Israel related to the Palestinian issue. (Arab Post, 23/5/2023)].
2- The current Saudi government, led by Bin Salman, is considered the most submissive to America, after the Trump administration removed America’s agent, Mohammed bin Nayef, from power in Saudi Arabia and handed over power to another agent, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). This was mid-2017, that is, six months after the Trump Republicans administration took office in Washington. Therefore, the Bin Salman government is very submissive to America, but it owes its affiliation primarily to the Republicans and the Trump group… Accordingly, the Bin Salman government has turned its back on Biden with hidden encouragement from the Trump group in America, and the Biden administration has done the same thing to it. Biden announced that he will not shake hands with Bin Salman against the backdrop of the Khashoggi killing.
3- The Biden administration came to power in America in 2021 against the backdrop of a severe American division that threatened and continues to upend political life in America as a whole. The two conflicting parties (the Democratic and the Republican) have taken part in the vast internal and external arena of conflict between them in a way that resembles the division of followers and agents on the international scene and employing them for the benefit of one party against another party in the internal American conflict, such as what was stated regarding Saudi Arabia’s reduction in oil production with Russia in order to strike a blow to the Democrats in America during the 2022 congressional elections, and such as the loud statements issued by the Jewish entity after Netanyahu’s return to power against America’s return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, which are things that the Republican Party and the Trump group benefit from in order to return to power again, so the Biden administration realized that the threads of Saudi normalization with the Jewish entity were out of its control after Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022.
Third: America re-evaluated its relations with Saudi Arabia and restored warmth to it. It also strengthened its contacts within the Jewish entity, but from a position of strength, all with the aim of seizing the threads of normalization between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish entity and dropping them from the hands of the Republicans:
1- After the government of Mohammed bin Salman rejected the Biden administration’s request in 2022 to postpone the reduction in oil production for one month, the Biden administration realized the depth of the relationship between the Trump group and Saudi Arabia, so it immediately began to tone down its criticism of Saudi Arabia. Republicans in America were mocking President Biden, whose insistence led to not shaking Bin Salman’s hand, but he greeted him with a fist bump instead, and refused a private meeting with him, but rather met with him within the Saudi delegation led by King Salman, they held Biden’s policy responsible for the rise in fuel prices.
2- US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Saudi Arabia and held a warm meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, inaugurating a new phase of American flattery with Saudi Arabia after strained relations; which was represented by thanking them for evacuating the Americans from Sudan, consulting with it regarding developments in Yemen, and granting it a greater role in American politics and its role in linking India to the world. (France 24, 8/5/2023).
3- Blinken’s visit to Saudi Arabia [US Secretary of State Blinken stressed coordination and partnership between the two countries, the two strategic allies. During the conference, the two ministers touched on Syria’s return to the Arab League, the Sudanese crisis, and the issue of normalization with Israel. (France 24, 9/6/2023)].
4- Removing Iranian-Saudi tensions. This was detailed in the Answer to Question: The Saudi-Iranian Reconciliation dated 1/4/2023. Saudi Arabia knows that this agreement has great value in the stability of its rule, and America was declaring that it is aware of what China is doing with Saudi Arabia and Iran. It also raised the status of Saudi Arabia by participating with it in the truce talks in Jeddah between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support since 8/5/2023.
5- At the G20 Summit, held in India on 9/9/2023, Saudi Arabia emerged as an intermediate land line between the eastern sea lines from India and the western ones to Europe, as it is a major element in the Biden Economic Corridor, which connects India to Europe via Saudi Arabia and the Jewish entity. [Saudi Arabia agreed with India Initially that it will pump investments worth about $100 billion (Al Jazeera Net, 11/9/2023)]. All of this indicates the increasing involvement of Bin Salman in the Biden administration’s policies, even though it is a Democratic administration, even if he does not sever the relationship with the Republicans!
6- The Biden administration is negotiating with the Bin Salman government on normalization with the Jewish entity and is talking about that. Through that it wants to make any peace agreement between it and the Jewish entity in its own hands, so that it will benefit from it in the American elections and the Republican Party and the Trump group will not benefit from it, that is, it will by turning the possible loss into a point of strength in its hand, in order to use it in front of the Jewish lobby to distance it from Trump and the Republicans especially in the upcoming elections.
7- The Biden administration is making the Netanyahu government drool for a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia: [The American ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, had revealed that the United States is working to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and two American officials told the American website Axios that the White House wants to push to reach an agreement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv within the next six to seven months, before President Joe Biden gets busy with his presidential campaign (Arabi Post, 23/5/2023)]. Jewish media also quoted the Foreign Minister of the Jewish entity as saying, “Israel is closer than ever to achieving a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia.” (BBC, 22/8/2023).
8- However, Netanyahu knows from a second angle that the file of normalization with Saudi Arabia has become closely adhered to by the Biden administration, and that a step in this direction can only be taken by the Biden administration, so Netanyahu sent a delegation to Washington on 17/8/2023, headed by his most trusted minister, the Minister of Strategic Affairs in the Jewish entity, Ron Dermer, and he discussed with the American officials directly related to the Saudi file, namely: [White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, US President’s first Middle East advisor, Brett McGurk, and the President’s senior energy advisor, Amos Hochstein, who are the three Americans who supervise diplomatic efforts aimed at normalization between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (BBC, 22/8/2023)]. Thus, Netanyahu turns to Biden for normalization with Saudi Arabia.
9- Then finally, there was Bin Salman’s statement mentioned in the question on Wednesday 20/9/2023: (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced in an interview with the American Fox News network, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday, that the Kingdom is “making progress” towards normalization with Israel. The Saudi Crown Prince said: “Every day we are getting closer and closer to normalizing relations with Israel.” Prince Mohammed bin Salman added, saying, “There is support from President Biden’s administration to reach that point. For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part and we have continuing negotiations until now…We got to see where we go. We hope that will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, get Israel as a player in the Middle East.” For his part, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday that a framework agreement brokered by the United States to establish relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia may be concluded by the beginning of next year).
Fourth: It is clear from all of this that the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Bin Salman, does not have much control over his affairs. He is a toy between the Republicans who brought him to power in Riyadh and their Democrat rivals. He responds to the desires of these and those not out of Saudi interest, but rather out of betrayal and subordination that Arab and Muslim rulers know no limits to, in serving their masters. The rulers in Muslim countries have forgotten that Palestine is a blessed land, including its environs.
[سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ]“Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed” [Al-Isra: 1]. It is the duty for the Muslim armies to mobilize to liberate and purify it from the abomination of the Jews, and not for Palestine to be presented to the Jews on a golden platter of normalization, submission, and servility!
In any case, Palestine will return, pure and blessed, as it was with the swords of the armies of truthful Muslims under the leadership of the Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate), and the Jews and their collaborators will be defeated and run away, and terror will fill their hearts until one of them hides behind a stone that reveals him more than hides him!! The Messenger of Allah (saw) spoke the truth: «لَتُقَاتِلُنَّ الْيَهُودَ فَلَتَقْتُلُنَّهُمْ حَتَّى يَقُولَ الْحَجَرُ يَا مُسْلِمُ هَذَا يَهُودِيٌّ فَتَعَالَ فَاقْتُلْهُ»“You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me); kill him.” And in another narration «هَذَا يَهُودِيٌّ وَرَائِي»“There is a Jew behind me.” With the same chain of transmission, Muslim narrated it on the authority of Ibn Omar. And perhaps it will materialize soon, Allah willing,
“Then they will nod their heads toward you2 and say, “When is that?” Say, “Perhaps it will be soon” [Al-Isra: 51].
Then those who committed crimes by normalizing their relations with the Jews will receive nothing but shame and severe punishment.
[سَيُصِيبُ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا صَغَارٌ عِنْدَ اللهِ وَعَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَمْكُرُونَ]“There will afflict those who committed crimes debasement before Allah and severe punishment for what they used to conspire” [Al-An’am: 124].
