US Senator Graham calls for Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement by end of 2024

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham confirmed that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that he believes a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel should be secured before the end of 2024, while U.S. President Joe Biden is still in office.

“I think the time to do this is on Biden’s watch,” Graham said. He warned that Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is “far more beholden to the left” than Biden and would not prioritize Middle East regional issues or the establishment of Saudi-Israel diplomatic ties.

Graham believes Biden would be able to muster sufficient Democratic votes for implementing a normalization deal between Jerusalem and Riyadh. He said if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wins the November election, many Democratic lawmakers may be reluctant to back his diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

However, the national security spokeswoman for the Harris campaign, Morgan Finkelstein, insisted that Harris is committed to strengthening relations between Israel and the Arab world.

“Vice President Harris has consistently supported efforts to ensure Israel is more deeply integrated in the Middle East region, including a potential historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. She believes such integration is critical to counter the threats posed by Iran,” Finkelstein stated.

In 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, a historic reconciliation between Israel and parts of the Arab world that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Since then, there have been efforts to expand the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia, which is considered a key nation within the Arab world and the wider Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia and Israel currently don't have any official relations. However, in recent years, the two nations have developed closer covert ties based on shared interests and agreeing that the Iranian regime threatens Israel, Saudi Arabia and much of the Sunni Arab world.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia opened up its airspace to Israeli airlines, resulting in shorter flight times to the Persian Gulf and various Asian destinations.

In September 2023, mere weeks before the Oct. 7 terror attack, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) told Fox News that “every day we get closer” to peace with Israel.

However, MBS also said that normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel was conditional upon the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state.

“For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part,” MBS stated. "If we have a breakthrough of reaching a deal that give the Palestinians their needs and make the region calm, we're going to work with whoever is there."

After Oct. 7 and since the Gaza War, the Saudi Kingdom decided to postpone discussions regarding normalization with Israel.

Last month, MBS told The Atlantic Magazine he didn't care about the “Palestinian issue” but needed to consider that the issue was important to the citizens of Saudi Arabia.

“Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do,” MBS said, though Saudi officials have denied this statement.