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Saudis Push for "Plan B" Deal with U.S. that Excludes Israel

(Guardian-UK) Julian Borger - The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have drafted a set of agreements on security and technology-sharing which were intended to be linked to a broader Middle East settlement involving Israel and the Palestinians. However, in the absence of a ceasefire in Gaza and adamant resistance from the Israeli government to the creation of a Palestinian state - and its determination to launch an offensive on Rafah - the Saudis are pushing for a more modest plan B, which excludes the Israelis. Under that option, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia would sign agreements on a bilateral defense pact, U.S. help in building a Saudi civil nuclear energy industry, and high-level sharing in the field of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Under Riyadh's plan B proposal, the U.S.-Saudi deals would not be made dependent on agreement from Israel. However, it is far from clear whether the administration - let alone Congress - would accept such a plan. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Riyadh on Monday, "The work that Saudi Arabia and the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion." A formal offer would be extended to Israel, exchanging Saudi normalization of relations for "irrevocable" moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. However, Kirsten Fontenrose, a former senior director for the Gulf in the U.S. National Security Council, said, "The Israeli government is currently placing higher value on blocking the formation of a Palestinian state than on normalizing with the Saudis. So the deal now being discussed is bilateral."
2024-05-02 00:00:00
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