Abbas softens demands on Israel, paving way for Saudi peace deal

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to back away from demands on Israel and would agree to an interim understanding with the Jewish state to pave the way for a larger Saudi quadrilateral agreement, according to a report on N12 that was confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.

The report comes amid high-level diplomatic activity to secure a complex regional architecture that would include a security pact between Riyadh and Washington and, according to Bloomberg, possibly with Israel as well.

As part of the deal Riyadh seeks Washington’s approval a Saudi civilian nuclear program that would allow for uranium enrichment. Riyadh would, as part of that deal, normalize its ties with Israel and in return, Israel would make concessions to the Palestinians. 

A US-Israel security pact is expected to help Netanyahu sway his coalition partners to support a deal even if they oppose the Palestinian concession. Many members of Netanyahu’s government disavow a two-state resolution.

Saudi Arabia's demands concerning Palestinian issue

They would also oppose some of the other Palestinian demands that have floated such as the transfer of portions of Area C, which under IDF control, to the Palestinian Authority which governs Areas A and B of the West Bank.

An Israeli official told reporters on Wednesday that Netanyahu believed his coalition would stand behind a Saudi-Israel normalization deal. 

The Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News on Wednesday that Israel and Saudi Arabia are closer than ever to a normalization deal. Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Thursday speculated that such an agreement could occur by March of 2024.

"I think there is certainly a likelihood that, in the first quarter of 2024, four or five months hence, we will be able to be in at a point where the details (of a deal) are finalized,” Cohen told Army Radio.

On Wednesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden held an hour-long meeting in New York, that was focused largely on the possibility of a trilateral deal between the three countries. 

It was their first face-to-face meeting since Netanyahu took office nine months ago and marked the first time the two men had discussed the deal in person. 

The Crown Prince told Fox News that the Palestinians were a significant part of the agreement.

“For us the Palestinian issue is very important,” bin Salman told Fox News. “We need to solve that part. We have good negotiations [that] continue until now. We are going to see where it will go. We hope that it will reach a place that it will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel as a player in the Middle East.”

“Every day we get closer,” to an agreement bin Salman said. “It seems as if for the first time, it’s [a] real one [and] serious. We’re going to see how it goes,” bin Salman said.

The Crown Prince dismissed stories that talks had broken down or that Riyadh was concerned by the composition of the Israeli government.

“If the Biden administration succeeded [in making what] I believe is the biggest historical deal since the end of the Cold War, then we are going to start a relationship [with Israeli] and that is a relationship that will continue regardless of who is running Israel,” bin Salman said.

There is a growing a sense of urgency in Washington over China's effort to gain a strategic foothold in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu has spoken of normalized Saudi ties as a historic step that would change the face of the Middle East and end the Israeli-Arab war, including in his meeting with Biden.

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, however, warned that a Saudi civilian nuclear program with uranium enrichment capacity could allow Riyadh to develop nuclear weapons and could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

The Crown Prince himself warned in his Fox News interview that should Iran develop nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would do so as well.

“We are concerned with any country getting nuclear weapons,” bin Salman said, but he stated if Iran “gets one, we have to get one.”                                                                                                                                                                                      

Lapid urged Netanyahu not to accept a Saudi deal that would endanger Israel.

*A normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia is a welcome thing,” Lapid said, but “not at the cost of allowing the Saudis to develop nuclear weapons. Not at the cost of a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East. *

"The Saudi Crown Prince already spoke yesterday about the possibility of Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons. All his life, Netanyahu fought precisely against such moves. These are the foundations of our nuclear strategy,” Lapid said.

“Strong democracies do not sacrifice their security interests for politics,” Lapid explained. “It is dangerous and irresponsible. Israel must not agree to any type of uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia.”

A senior Israeli official told reporters in New York covering Netanyahu’s trip to the US, that Israel wants to see many safeguards in place to ensure that Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear program can’t be weaponized.

“Israel and the United States have the same position” on the nuclear aspect of the deal, the official said, adding that Israel doesn’t plan to back down from its principled points of concern.