The inability to reach agreements on a start date for direct talks with Israel regarding Saudi Arabia normalization has delayed the final US approval for the sale of F-35 aircraft to the kingdom and several clauses in the defense agreement between Washington and Riyadh.
Sources in Washington said that despite the positive atmosphere in the talks and the success in reaching agreements on Saudi investments in the US and other civil matters, security issues remain unresolved and contacts on the subject will continue. Regarding normalization with Israel, the Saudis presented a stubborn position stating they would be ready to begin talks only upon the full conclusion of the war, through the completion of Phase B of the Donald Trump plan.
The American response was that the Saudis are giving Hamas veto power, as Hamas refuses to advance to talks or disarm, partly due to Iranian pressure on several regime officials. Iran aims to torpedo or delay such normalization, which strengthens the regional alliance against it.
A second demand raised by the Saudis is the full establishment of the path to establishing a Palestinian state. Reports indicated that Israel, meaning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, must publicly confirm his commitment regarding this clause in the Donald Trump plan and the Security Council resolution. As Israel Hayom revealed, Riyadh made clear in early contacts that it could not sign onto joining the Abraham Accords and normalization with the government in its current composition, meaning with the right-wing parties of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
This concerns not only statements by the right-wing MKs against a Palestinian state or Saudi Arabia itself, but mainly their push to expand the settlements. A Saudi diplomatic source told Israel Hayom that it is clear to the Saudi leadership that in the current government, Netanyahu will struggle to advance the basic conditions for promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Saudis do not rule out talks with Israel soon, and even reaching agreements on civil and economic matters – but they rule out normalization and official accession to the Abraham Accords with the current Israeli government.
An Arab diplomatic official said the prevailing assessment is that such official talks would begin with the war's conclusion phase, but unofficial talks and contacts between the countries would continue and even accelerate before then, due to pressure from Donald Trump. "We estimate that the acceptance of Saudi security requests, or at least most of them, will be announced then," the official said. The official referred here to the supply of advanced weapons types, including F-35 stealth aircraft.
Regarding the issue of selling the advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia, Israel did not object in principle but asked the US for two things. First, Israel asked to supply the Saudis with models that do not possess the most sophisticated systems available for the aircraft. Donald Trump said Tuesday that in his opinion it is possible to give Saudi Arabia and Israel the same systems, but the Pentagon and the State Department believe Israel's qualitative edge must be preserved in this aspect.
The president added that Israel is aware of the entire issue of the aircraft sale, and it will be very satisfied with the results of this move, meaning it will gain in other places. The second request is receiving specific security items and access to technologies that until now existed only in the hands of the US military and were not sold to Israel. There is some progress here, although the entire request was not fulfilled.
An Israeli security official criticized the diplomatic level for not sharing the management of contacts with the administration with the relevant security echelon, noting that in the past this level was involved in talks such as these. The official said the approach to the security echelon occurred only after the objection in principle to the sale had already been removed.
The IDF, incidentally, is not very concerned about the sale of F-35 aircraft to Saudi Arabia, as the Israeli qualitative edge lies in the levels of technology integration of the aircraft with other technologies and systems, as well as in the much higher skill of the Israeli pilots.
In the diplomatic bottom line, Israel has swallowed a bitter pill in the form of consent to the "path to a Palestinian state" clause. It will swallow another bitter pill or two regarding weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region. The first and major return, the hostages and remaining in Gaza, has been accepted. Now the diplomatic return is awaited, though its political price will be high.
