A deal that could change the face of Middle East politics
Saudi Arabia has signalled it may be ready to normalise ties with Israel as part of a US-brokered deal

Like most Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has never recognised Israel since its founding in 1948.
In principle, it will go on ostracising Israel until it permits the creation of a Palestinian state, said Patrick Kingsley in The New York Times. For decades, relations between the two countries have therefore been scarred by mutual distrust. But all that could be about to change.
In recent months, Riyadh has signalled it may be ready to normalise ties with Jerusalem as part of a US-brokered deal, a deal that could "pave the way for the rest of the Muslim world to follow suit". Hopes of a breakthrough were further raised last week, with the first ever public visit by an Israeli minister to Saudi Arabia, and a return visit by a Saudi envoy to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims the two countries are now "at the cusp" of a deal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'A game changer'
Such an agreement could be a "game-changer" in so many ways, said Ruth Wasserman Lande in The Jerusalem Post. It would "legitimise Israel in the eyes of a long list of Muslim countries", thereby allowing Jerusalem to promote its interests in the region. It would mean Riyadh could get US support in its efforts to develop a civilian nuclear programme. It would strengthen defence ties between the countries, and in doing so reduce the threat posed by Iran's nuclear programme. And it would give Joe Biden a major foreign policy breakthrough to promote ahead of next year's US presidential election.
Whatever the merits of this deal, said The Economist, it won't be an easy one to secure. Many Saudis are sceptical of closer ties with Israel, and Riyadh's expressed desire to win concessions on behalf of Palestine is anathema to many in Netanyahu's hardline government. As for Biden, he'll struggle to sell the prospect of a Saudi nuclear programme to the US public, and will also face stiff opposition from progressives in his own party, who "abhor the Saudis' human-rights record".
'Any diplomatic agreement preferable to war'
Undeniably, it would be a "rotten deal with a rotten regime", said Gideon Levy in Haaretz (Tel Aviv). Only two years ago, the US was accusing Riyadh of responsibility for the murder in Istanbul of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And like its predecessor, the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, it will do nothing to address the suffering of the Palestinians. But granted all that, "history has taught us that any diplomatic agreement is always preferable to the alternative of war". That is why we must support the Israeli PM's efforts to bring it about, "even if his name is Benjamin Netanyahu".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
May 31 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include how much to pay for a pardon, medical advice from a brain worm, and a simple solution to the national debt.
-
5 costly cartoons about the national debt
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on the USA's financial hole, rare bipartisan agreement, and Donald Trump and Mike Johnson.
-
Green goddess salad recipe
The Week Recommends Avocado can be the creamy star of the show in this fresh, sharp salad
-
The Biden cover-up: a 'near-treasonous' conspiracy
Talking Point Using 'Trumpian' tactics, the former president's inner circle maintained a conspiracy of silence around his cognitive and physical decline
-
Deportations: Miller's threat to the courts
Feature The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus to speed up deportations without due process
-
Asylum: Only white Afrikaners need apply
Feature Trump welcomes white Afrikaner farmers while shutting down the asylum program for non-white refugees
-
Law: The battle over birthright citizenship
Feature Trump shifts his focus to nationwide injunctions after federal judges block his attempt to end birthright citizenship
-
The threat to the NIH
Feature The Trump administration plans drastic cuts to medical research. What are the ramifications?
-
Courts try to check administration on deportations
Feature The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to end protected status for Venezuelans, but blocks deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
-
House GOP pushes ahead on deficit-boosting tax bill
Feature Republicans push a bill that will lock in Trump's tax cuts, cut Medicaid and add trillions to the national debt
-
How the civil service works – and why critics say it needs reform
The Explainer Keir Starmer wants to 'rewire' Whitehall, which he has claimed is too 'comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline'