Time has run out for Israel-Saudi deal before elections – report

There are not enough days left in the Congressional calendar to hold the necessary hearings and approve a treaty, even if all sides were in agreement.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Time has run out for an Israel-Saudi-U.S. deal before the November presidential elections, The Times of Israel reported Thursday.

The basic tripartite agreement was that in return for Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with the Jewish state, the U.S. would ink a mutual defense pact with the Gulf kingdom.

The news outlet cited two unnamed sources, a Democratic lawmaker and a senior Republican Senate aide, as saying that there are not enough days left in the Congressional calendar to hold the necessary hearings and obtain the required legislative ratification for such a formal security alliance.

Between the summer recess and the break taken from September 27 until the national vote, there are less than four weeks of work left in the Capitol.

Even if the Senate is successfully convened during recess, the two sources said that there were not enough Republicans who would back the treaty to push it through.

According to the U.S. Constitution, treaties must be approved by two-thirds of the upper body of Congress.

There are currently 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four Independents who usually caucus with the Democrats in the Senate.

Handing such a huge victory to political opponents right before elections is not something that party faithful are known for.

It is also questionable whether an agreement could even be reached soon, although American officials said in June that they were “close” to a potential treaty.

While up to September 2023, Riyadh had been content to leave a Palestinian state off its list of demands, this changed following the outbreak of the Israel- Hamas war on October 7, sparked by the terrorists’ invasion and massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Now the Saudis are insisting that such a state “on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital” is a pre-requisite for any diplomatic relations, as is the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and the cessation of all hostilities.

Riyadh has also increased its criticism of Israel’s handling of the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his opposition to “rewarding” Palestinian terrorism with a state, and a large majority of the Israeli public agrees with this position.

He has also held firm to the red line that Israel must retain security control of the Gaza Strip in order to ensure that a repeat invasion could never recur in the future.

Biden Administrationdefense pactIsrael-Saudi relationsnormalization of tiesUS SenateUS-Saudi relations