Trump’s Horizon in the Middle East; Is the Table Set in Saudi Arabia? [Part III]

Saudi Arabia has to adjust its normalized price request to account for those worries. As consequence, the significance of creating a Palestinian state along 1967 boundaries with the capitol in East Jerusalem was once more discussed with Riyadh. It was essentially an allusion to the initial idea of the Arab Peace Initiative, which Saudi Arabia drafted in 22 years earlier. According to the effort, normalizing ties with Israel was only possible if the 1967 occupation was ended.
In over three decades, Israeli opposition to Palestinian independence has never been stronger as it was after October 7, 2023.

It is hard to believe that Israel would be open to comply with anything as basic as admitting that right to a statehood for the Palestinians. It is almost impossible due to these changes in Israeli mentality and the current extremist trend of Israeli administrations. Yet, without such acknowledgment, it is as hard to think about Saudi Arabia fixing relations with Israel.

Donald Trump’s early 2020 Peace to Prosperity initiative promised that it would act as a template for two-state solution. The specifics, which included Israel taking over an extra 30% of the entire occupied West Bank, horrified Palestinian people. According to Trump’s plan, an entirely new, larger Israel will completely enclose any Palestinian state. The plan nevertheless did see the residual Palestinian group as a form of official state.

Trump could potentially be capable to influence Saudi Arabia to rethink its stance so as to embrace a deal of this kind. A further essential aspect of Saudi Arabia’s requirements would be for Israel to put an end the conflict in Gaza. The US president-elect has made it clear that Israel should conclude the battles in Gaza that kicked off last year. He would potentially be able to convince Riyadh to reduce the cost for rapprochement if he could get an Israeli proclamation that the year-long conflict is done. Saudi Arabia may, at the very least, approximate the previous Substantial Palestinian Element considerably more. The Saudi stance will probably rely on Israel’s openness to adopt less restrictive rhetoric toward a Palestinian independence roadway.

The fact that Jared Kushner, Trump’s influential son-in-law and the purported creator of the Trump’s peace initiative during his first term, has attempted to reframe its conditions as only a beginning point for negotiations is noteworthy. Adding to that important clarification, Palestinian people may wish to think cautiously before pushing to expand on any additional mechanism that Trump has initiated. This is due to the reality that since Obama era, there has existed no practical pathway toward gaining autonomy in any form. By merely trying ideas out, there may not be much to risk.

Without a doubt, Saudi Arabia will keep working toward a new joint deal with the US on defense cooperation. However, for the fresh defense agreement to have any sort of tangible effect, the US House must ratify it. Absent any form of Saudi rapprochement of ties with Israel, the possibility of that scenario to take place is adjacent to zero.