Against the background of reports that the US and Saudi Arabia will sign a defense agreement, American National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told the British newspaper "Financial Times" tonight (Sunday) that Washington will not agree to a defense alliance with Riyadh without it signing a normalization agreement with Israel.
According to him, "one part cannot be separated from the others. The combined vision is a bilateral understanding between the US and Saudi Arabia along with normalization with Israel and significant steps towards the Palestinians. It is impossible to separate one part from the other."
As a reminder, last week it was reported that Saudi Arabia set a number of conditions for the US to move forward with the normalization agreement with Israel. According to New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman, Saudi Arabia is demanding a three to five year path until the establishment of a Palestinian state - which will be conditional on the reforms required of the Palestinian Authority so that it becomes a reliable body in the eyes of the Israeli public.
Another condition presented by Saudi Arabia is the freezing of construction in the Judea and Samaria. The third condition is the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip. In addition, it is believed that normalization will not progress without a ceasefire agreement and a hostage deal with Hamas.
