20240613
The US may offer Saudi Arabia an unprecedented defense agreement to facilitate a normalization agreement with Israel, which has been hindered by the Gaza war.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the treaty would include a commitment from Washington to defend Saudi Arabia in the event of an attack and would likely open access to higher-grade US-made weaponry, something unparalleled in the region.
The Business Daily reported that this would be the first mutual defense pact Washington has signed with a foreign power since the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with Japan in 1960, and the first with an authoritarian state.
The treaty would not only guarantee Washington's defensive support but also allow the US access to Saudi territory and prohibit the construction of Chinese bases within the Kingdom, a factor that has already complicated US-UAE relations.
Such a treaty would require a two-thirds majority in Congress to become law, which is unlikely to happen without incorporating Israel-Saudi normalization into the agreement.
The US and Saudi Arabia are also pursuing a separate Defense Cooperation Agreement, which does not need congressional approval and would bolster arms sales, intelligence sharing, and cooperation on Iran and terrorism.
Saudi Arabia has also pushed the US to support the establishment of a civilian nuclear program, a request Washington has so far denied, leading Riyadh to seek assistance from France and China to apply pressure.
Biden had hoped to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the November presidential elections, but the brutal war in Gaza, which has killed over 31,100 Palestinians, has stalled the process.
Riyadh insists that it will only normalize relations if concrete steps are taken toward establishing an independent Palestinian state, a possibility the Israeli government has ruled out.