Saudi Publicly Links Peace to Palestinian Statehood
Despite widespread claims that Israel is blocking progress toward normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, the key obstacle lies elsewhere: Riyadh’s insistence that Israel first commit to creating a Palestinian state.
During his November 18, 2025 White House visit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) declared that the kingdom wants to join the Abraham Accords — but only if there is “a clear path to a two-state solution.”
“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want a clear path to a two-state solution.”
— Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Times of Israel)
The statement formalized a new link between Saudi normalization and Palestinian statehood, a precondition Israel rejects as politically unworkable and strategically risky.
Israel Signals Openness — But Rejects Preconditions
Israeli officials have repeatedly indicated that they support advancing ties with Saudi Arabia based on mutual strategic interests, not on demands centered around the Palestinian issue. Reporting from Axios confirms that Israel is not the party blocking normalization; the bottleneck is the Saudi precondition. Israelis see normalization with the kingdom as transformative, aligning with the broader success of the Abraham Accords.
As Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy put it:
“If Saudi Arabia wants peace with Israel, it should go ahead and make peace with Israel. Conditioning it on a third party only encourages the Palestinians to be inflexible and maximalist.”
How the Abraham Accords Changed the Rules
The Abraham Accords, launched in 2020, created a new model for Arab–Israeli peace by doing something unprecedented: removing the Palestinian veto.
That shift allowed the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan to normalize ties with Israel based on shared interests, rather than on deadlocked Palestinian politics. Middle East scholar Dr. David Wurmser emphasizes that this decoupling was the core reason the Accords succeeded.
The demand to restore the Palestinian precondition, he warns, undermines the very formula that made recent diplomacy work.
“Tying it to the Palestinian issue will not succeed and can even undermine the strategic cooperation that exists with Saudi Arabia.”
— Dr. David Wurmser
Why the Palestinian Precondition Risks Derailing Regional Progress
Linking normalization to Palestinian statehood, analysts say, opens the door to manipulation by regional spoilers. Wurmser cautions that Qatar, Turkey, and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned forces — all positioned to benefit from Palestinian political leverage — will exploit the precondition to block or delay progress.
According to Wurmser, Qatar especially seeks to “rope the Saudis into their agenda… which is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is Hamas being saved,” effectively turning the Palestinian question into a diplomatic trap rather than a bridge to peace.
Quiet Israel–Saudi Cooperation Already Exists
While public normalization remains stalled, experts note that extensive under-the-table cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia predates any formal agreement. Military and intelligence coordination has been growing quietly for years.
Wurmser argues that this discreet strategic partnership is often more effective than public diplomacy — and warns that forcing the Palestinian issue into the open negotiations risks damaging relationships already benefiting both states.
The Real Blockage: Preconditions, Not Israeli Resistance
Claims that Israel opposes peace with Saudi Arabia misrepresent the core diplomatic reality. Israeli leaders support deeper ties with the kingdom and view normalization as a major step in reshaping the region.
What stands in the way is not a lack of Israeli interest — but Riyadh’s insistence that normalization be contingent on Palestinian statehood, a demand that the Israeli government and much of the Israeli public do not consider viable.
Bottom Line: The Model of the Abraham Accords Still Works
For years, the Abraham Accords demonstrated that regional peace is possible when based on shared strategic interests rather than on the stalled Israeli–Palestinian track.
The current stalemate with Saudi Arabia reflects a return to old formulas that failed for decades. As Eylon Levy summarized:
“Conditioning it on a third party only encourages the Palestinians to be inflexible and maximalist.”
Saudi–Israel normalization remains within reach — but only if the process returns to what made recent peace breakthroughs successful: advancing bilateral ties without preconditions.
