Only a few weeks ago, it seemed as if the United States was making progress toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, undeniably the most powerful Muslim nation.
Saudi Arabia also made it clear that, while starting negotiations, they would never back down from their support for the Palestinian cause. Currently, Saudi Arabia is at odds with both Israel and the United States due to the October 7 Hamas assault in Israel and the ensuing escalation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been traveling throughout the Arab world to persuade them to support Washington’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
After meeting with Abdel Fatah El-Sisi of Egypt and Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Blinken reportedly told reporters on Sunday, “I heard many good ideas about the steps we need to take moving forward.” However, there was a difference of opinion when it came to Israel’s right to escalate the war in Gaza, as neither of the Arab leaders supported it. According to additional reports, the Saudi ruler in Riyadh “kept Blinken waiting for a meeting that was supposed to take place in the evening but the Crown Prince only showed up the next morning.”
Despite El-Sisi and MBS stressing the need for Israeli forces to stop their attacks on Gaza, the U.S. still fully backs Israel’s actions in the region. Additionally, MBS stressed the need to end the closure on Gaza, which has left its citizens without access to essentials such as electricity, food, and water. Sisi, on the other hand, pointed out that Israel’s assaults have gone beyond “the right of self-defense” and have turned into “collective punishment.” He leveled accusations against Israel for its role in exacerbating the challenging circumstances faced by Palestinians while simultaneously offering criticism toward Hamas.
When Blinken mentioned his Jewish background during the conversation, Sisi, who had neighbors of Jewish descent while growing up in Egypt, responded by saying, “You brought up your Jewish background, and I, having lived close to Jewish communities in Egypt as an Egyptian, can confirm that they did not experience any significant oppression or discrimination. In the history of our region, there has been no instance of Jews being targeted, either in recent times or in the distant past.”
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