Q&A
Question:
BBC News Arabic reported on its website on September 21, 2023: "The Saudi Crown Prince announced in an interview with the American Fox News network, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday, that the Kingdom is 'making progress' toward normalization with Israel. He said: 'Every day we get closer and closer to normalizing relations with Israel'... and added, 'There is support from President Biden’s administration to reach that point...'" A Jewish delegation had also participated publicly in Saudi Arabia: "The Israeli authorities expressed their happiness at the presence of a government delegation in Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Riyadh, considering it a first step on the path to normalization between the two countries. France 24, 11/09/2023." Is Saudi Arabia on the verge of joining the Arab agreements of betrayal and building relations with the Jewish entity?
Answer:
To clarify the answer, we review the following matters:
First: According to the circulated news, the parties to the normalization process are the Jewish entity, Saudi Arabia, and America. There are facts related to these three parties:
The Jewish entity considers any normalization with any country in the Arab and Islamic region to be a great achievement to stabilize its existence and make it "eternal" according to its wishes. Therefore, all governments of the Jewish entity race to find any gap through which they can penetrate Islamic countries, especially Arab ones.
As Saudi Arabia is one of the governments in the region that does not see fighting the Jews to liberate the whole of Palestine, the Saudi government has for a long time maintained some contacts with the Jewish entity, but in secret. Therefore, Saudi Arabia does not object in principle to establishing relations with the Jewish entity; rather, its former King, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, was the one who launched the Arab Initiative of Betrayal in 2002, and Saudi Arabia constantly declares its adherence to it.
On the American side, all American administrations have worked for decades for "peace" between the Jews and their neighboring Arab rulers in order to stabilize the Jewish entity, integrate it into the region, and remove its status as a foreign body. This is something the two American parties (Democratic and Republican) do not disagree on.
Second: Despite this ground being receptive to normalization from the three parties, this issue is permeated by significant political complexities:
By his public opposition to the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015 and his incitement in the US Congress against it, Netanyahu became an opponent of then-President Obama's policy on the Iranian nuclear issue. This led to a poisoning of the Jewish entity’s relations with the American Democratic Party. When President Trump and his Republican administration came to power in Washington in early 2017, warmth flowed into the relations between the Jewish entity and the Republican administration, which gave the entity recognition of Jerusalem as its capital, moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, and recognized its annexation of the Golan. When a new Democratic administration led by Biden returned to power in early 2021, relations between Tel Aviv and Washington returned to coolness. In fact, the Biden administration refused to receive Netanyahu at the White House until recently after rearranging the relationship anew. Among Netanyahu's election promises was normalization with Saudi Arabia, and it was recently revealed that there are actual contacts between Netanyahu and Ibn Salman (Jerusalem Post reported on Monday, 22/05/2023, that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke over the phone with the Saudi Crown Prince twice during the past weeks... and Riyadh submitted a list of demands to Israel related to the Palestinian cause... Arabi Post, 23/05/2023).
The current Saudi government led by Ibn Salman is considered the most compliant in the hands of America after the Trump administration removed America's agent Mohammed bin Nayef from power in Saudi Arabia and handed power to another agent, Mohammed bin Salman. This was in mid-2017, six months after the Trump Republican administration took office. Therefore, Ibn Salman's government is extremely compliant in the hands of America, but it owes its allegiance primarily to the Republicans and the Trump group. Accordingly, Ibn Salman's government turned its back on Biden with hidden encouragement from the Trump group in America. The Biden administration reciprocated, with Biden declaring that he would not shake hands with Ibn Salman following the Khashoggi murder case.
The Biden administration came to power in 2021 amidst a severe American division that threatened and still threatens to overturn political life in America entirely. The two conflicting parties (Democratic and Republican) have taken, within the internal and wide external arena of conflict between them, what resembles a division of followers and agents on the international stage, employing them for the benefit of one party against another in the internal American conflict. Examples include Saudi Arabia reducing oil production with Russia to strike a blow against the Democrats during the 2022 Congressional elections, and the loud statements issued by the Jewish entity after Netanyahu's return to power against America's return to the nuclear deal with Iran—matters that benefit the Republican Party and the Trump group in order to return to power. Therefore, the Biden administration realized that the threads of Saudi normalization with the Jewish entity had fallen out of its hands after Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022.
Third: America re-evaluated its relations with Saudi Arabia, restoring warmth to them, and strengthened its contacts within the Jewish entity but from a position of strength. All of this aimed to seize the threads of normalization between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish entity and snatch them from the hands of the Republicans:
After Mohammed bin Salman's government rejected the Biden administration's 2022 request to postpone the reduction of oil production for one month, the Biden administration realized the depth of the relationship between the Trump group and Saudi Arabia. Consequently, it immediately began to tone down its criticism of Saudi Arabia. Republicans in America were mocking President Biden, whose insistence on not shaking Ibn Salman's hand resulted in him greeting him with a fist bump and refusing a private meeting, instead meeting him within the Saudi delegation led by King Salman. They blame Biden's policy for high fuel prices.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Saudi Arabia and held a warm meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marking a new phase of American courting of Saudi Arabia after the coolness. This was manifested in thanking Saudi Arabia for evacuating Americans from Sudan, consulting with it on developments in Yemen, and granting it a larger role in American policy and a role in connecting India to the world (France 24, 08/05/2023).
Blinken's visit to Saudi Arabia ("US Secretary of State Blinken emphasized the coordination and partnership between the two countries, strategic allies. During the conference, the two ministers discussed Syria's return to the Arab League, the Sudanese crisis, and the normalization file with Israel... France 24, 09/06/2023").
Resolving Iranian-Saudi tensions, the details of which were mentioned in the Q&A "The Saudi-Iranian Agreement" dated 01/04/2023. Saudi Arabia knows that this agreement has great value in the stability of its rule, and America announced that it was aware of what China was doing with Saudi Arabia and Iran. It also elevated Saudi Arabia's status by involving it in the de-escalation talks in Jeddah between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces since 08/05/2023.
At the G20 summit held in India on 09/09/2023, Saudi Arabia emerged as a land bridge intermediate between the eastern maritime lines from India and the western ones to Europe as a key element in Biden's economic corridor connecting India to Europe via Saudi Arabia and the Jewish entity ("Saudi Arabia tentatively agreed with India to inject investments worth about $100 billion. Al Jazeera Net, 11/09/2023"). All this indicates Ibn Salman's increasing involvement in the Biden administration's policies, even though it is a Democratic administration, even if he has not cut ties with the Republicans!
The Biden administration is negotiating with the Ibn Salman government regarding normalization with the Jewish entity and talking about it. Through this, it wants to keep any peace agreement between it and the Jewish entity in its own hands, so that it benefits from it in the US elections rather than the Republican Party and the Trump group. In other words, it is turning a potential loss into a point of strength for use before the Jewish lobby to pull them away from Trump and the Republicans, especially in the upcoming elections.
The Biden administration is making the Netanyahu government salivate for a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia: ("The US Ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, revealed that the United States is working for the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Two US officials told the American Axios website that the White House wants to push for an agreement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv within the next six to seven months, before President Joe Biden becomes busy with his presidential campaign. Arabi Post, 23/05/2023"). Jewish media also quoted the Jewish entity's foreign minister: "Israel is closer than ever to achieving a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia." BBC, 22/08/2023.
However, Netanyahu knows from another angle that the file of normalization with Saudi Arabia is now largely held by the Biden administration, and that a step in this direction can only be taken through the Biden administration. Therefore, Netanyahu sent a delegation to Washington on 17/08/2023, headed by his most trusted minister, the Minister of Strategic Affairs in the Jewish entity, Ron Dermer. He discussed with the American officials directly related to the Saudi file, namely: ("White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the US President's Senior Advisor for the Middle East Brett McGurk, and the President's Senior Advisor for Energy Amos Hochstein. They are the three American officials overseeing diplomatic efforts aimed at normalization between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. BBC, 22/08/2023"). Thus, Netanyahu turns toward Biden for normalization with Saudi Arabia.
Then finally came Ibn Salman's statement mentioned in the question on Wednesday, 20/09/2023: ("Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced in an interview with the American Fox News network, excerpts of which were broadcast Wednesday, that the Kingdom is 'making progress' toward normalization with Israel. The Saudi Crown Prince said: 'Every day we get closer and closer to normalizing relations with Israel.' Prince Mohammed bin Salman added, 'There is support from President Biden’s administration to reach that point. For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part and we have ongoing negotiations so far. And we have to see where they go. We hope they reach a place that makes life easier for the Palestinians and integrates Israel into the Middle East'... For his part, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday that a US-brokered framework agreement to establish relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be concluded by the beginning of next year...").
Fourth: It is clear from all this that the actual ruler of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Salman, does not possess much of his own affair. He is a pawn between the Republicans who brought him to power in Riyadh and their Democratic rivals. He responds to the desires of both, not for the sake of Saudi interest, but out of betrayal and agency (Amala) for which the rulers of the Arabs and Muslims know no bounds in serving their masters. The rulers in the Muslim lands have forgotten that Palestine is a blessed land, it and its surroundings:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ
"Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed." (Al-Isra [17]: 1)
The duty is for the Muslim armies to move to liberate and purify it from the filth of the Jews, not for Palestine to be presented to the Jews on a golden platter of normalization, submission, and groveling! In any case, Palestine will return pure and blessed as it was, by the swords of the sincere Muslim armies under the leadership of the Rightly Guided Khilafah (Caliphate). The gathering of the Jews and their helpers will be defeated and they will turn their backs, and terror will fill their hearts until one of them hides behind a stone that exposes him more than it hides him!! The Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke the truth:
لَتُقَاتِلُنَّ الْيَهُودَ فَلَتَقْتُلُنَّهُمْ حَتَّى يَقُولَ الْحَجَرُ يَا مُسْلِمُ هَذَا يَهُودِيٌّ فَتَعَالَ فَاقْتُلْهُ
"You will fight the Jews and kill them, until a stone says: 'O Muslim, there is a Jew, so come and kill him.'"
In another narration:
هَذَا يَهُودِيٌّ وَرَائِي
"There is a Jew behind me."
With the same chain, narrated by Muslim on the authority of Ibn Umar. Perhaps it will be soon, Allah willing:
وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ قُلْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ قَرِيباً
"And they say, 'When is that?' Say, 'Perhaps it will be soon.'" (Al-Isra [17]: 51)
At that time, those who committed crimes by normalizing with the Jews will receive nothing but disgrace and painful punishment:
سَيُصِيبُ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا صَغَارٌ عِنْدَ اللهِ وَعَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَمْكُرُونَ
"There will afflict those who committed crimes debasement before Allah and severe punishment for what they used to conspire." (Al-An'am [6]: 124)
10th of Rabi' al-Awwal 1445 AH
25/09/2023 CE