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Israel-Hamas War

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ISRAEL RESISTS GRAND BARGAIN AS U.S. AND SAUDIS WORK ON SECURITY PACT

President Biden is pushing for a broad deal that would get Israel to approve a
Palestinian nation in return for Saudi recognition of Israel. But officials need
to overcome Israeli opposition.

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President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, met in Saudi
Arabia in 2022. The president and the crown prince have since sought a Middle
East security pact, with stakes raised by the war in Gaza.Credit...Doug
Mills/The New York Times

By Edward Wong and Vivian Nereim

Edward Wong reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan,
while traveling with the U.S. secretary of state, and from Washington. Vivian
Nereim reported from Riyadh.

May 17, 2024Updated 8:09 a.m. ET
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Two years into President Biden’s term, his aides began negotiating with Saudi
leaders to have the kingdom establish diplomatic relations with Israel. But when
the Israel-Hamas war began last October, the talks withered.

American and Saudi officials have tried to revive prospects for a deal by
demanding more from Israel — a cease-fire in Gaza and irreversible steps toward
the founding of a Palestinian nation. Now those officials say they are close to
a final agreement on the main elements of what the Saudis want from the deal: a
U.S.-Saudi mutual defense pact and cooperation on a civilian nuclear program in
the kingdom.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, the de facto Saudi leader, about these matters in private on his visit
last month to Riyadh, according to the State Department. And Jake Sullivan, the
White House national security adviser, is expected to follow up when he goes to
Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend.

But there are no signs that Israeli leaders are moving to join them, despite the
symbolic importance for Israel of establishing ties with Saudi Arabia, the most
powerful Arab nation.


Image

Before the war, U.S. and Saudi officials planned to ask the Israelis for modest
concessions for the Palestinians, U.S. officials say. But now Mr. Biden sees a
deal involving a Palestinian nation as a critical component of the conflict’s
endgame. Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

That resistance, along with a potential full-scale assault by the Israeli
military on the Palestinian city of Rafah, puts in jeopardy a potential
three-way grand bargain that Mr. Biden envisions as the foundation to a
long-term solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Edward Wong is a diplomatic correspondent who has reported for The Times for
more than 24 years from New York, Baghdad, Beijing and Washington. He was on a
team of Pulitzer Prize finalists for Iraq War coverage. More about Edward Wong

Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the
Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. More about Vivian
Nereim

See more on: Israel-Hamas War News, 2024 Elections
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