The known fact, that “In the Middle East, after a great war, comes a great political act,” that has already been determined many years ago, was never proven wrong; and in recent days, toward the upcoming next phase of the fighting in Gaza, which includes fewer maneuvering and more targeted forces, the USA seems to feel that even if the war is not officially over, it is possible to begin to deal with the political future. In Israel, there was also a political refreshment with the change of Foreign Minister, in accordance with the govermental rotation agreed upon between Eli Cohen and Israel Katz; this is not Katz’s first term as minister, and in his previous term in 2020, the Trump Plan was presented and breakthroughs were achieved on the way to the Avraham Accords.
The bringer of the news on behalf of the United States was Foreign Minister Blinken, who came to visit the Middle East for a few days, including Saudi Arabia and Israel. Blinken met with Katz, and reportedly told him that normalization with Saudi Arabia is still on the table – and in fact, its chances of realization have even increased due to the war, since the fundamental strategic questions have not been changed. But to reach that, Israel should present a final milatry achievement in Gaza soon: Both in order for the war to end before it expands, or for the Arab public opinion to tilt even further against Israel, and both in order not to completely humiliate the Arab honor in the Gaza Strip, and also to prove that Israel still has sufficient military capabilities.
To a large extent, normalization with Saudi Arabia would be a real victory in the war – both because the attempt to prevent it was one of the reasons that Hamas started the war in the first place at this time, and also because it is a huge strategic achievement in itself – so after the deadliest war in the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, even more.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to London, Prince Khaled bin-Bandar, who is considered the “moderate” spokesman for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in front of the West, also said the same: “Saudi Arabia still believes in establishing relations with Israel despite the unfortunate numbers of those killed in Gaza… But it cannot come at the expense of the Palestinian people.” He means, of course, both Gaza and Judea and Samaria. We’ll see if it’s something this government can handle anytime soon.
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