By James E. Pogue -NEW YORK -It turns out the reason U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was in the Middle East in mid-May, was to firm up a bilateral deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. This is not just any deal because this is a deal that would directly benefit Israel and leave any possibility of a two-state solution hanging in the balance or worst-case scenario, in the dust. And once again, it’s the Palestinians who suffer as if their present suffering wasn’t enough. As White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told the press on Monday: “Of course, the president remains committed to a two-state solution. He recognizes that, you know, that’s not something we’re going to see any, anytime in the future.” It’s the way Kirby made that statement that stands out as a giant red flag for the Palestinians and their aspirations. Reports indicate that U.S. and Saudi negotiators plan to sign off on a bilateral accord that most likely includes formal U.S. guarantees to defend Saudi Arabia with Saudi access to more advanced U.S. weaponry in return for stopping Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in Saudi Arabia. That’s curious, since the leader they will sign with, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aka MBS is not known for his transparency.
It’s who the accord is going to benefit, that is most telling, because the ultimate plan is to present the possibility of normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, supposedly on the condition that he agrees to a two-state solution. What is common knowledge is that Netanyahu already announced he has no interest in a two-state solution, supported vociferously by two of his far-right ministers, who announced they want to eliminate Palestinians from Gaza in a “migration plan.” Two far-right ministers who have been hatching plans to turn Gaza into fancy condos for ‘Jewish settlers’ even going so far as to advertise them online. As Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givir said in January 2024: “We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of the residents of Gaza.” The other far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who also has a position in the Defense Ministry, makes claims that Israel “will rule there. And in order to rule there securely for a long time, we must have a civilian presence.” What’s far worse is that there’s an Israeli woman leading an extreme far-right movement to push Palestinians out of Gaza and promote Jewish settlers moving there. Not to mention the recent polls that put Israeli opinion on this issue at 25-40% in agreement of the idea.
Let’s not forget: The U.S. is making a deal with the same leader responsible for the bold murder of Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This is a leader who is also responsible for the jailing of, spying on and other unnamed acts against Saudi female activists and other Saudi women. Ironically, the spyware used to catch these women, Pegasus, is made by the Israeli firm NSO. As the website forbidden stories, reveals: “In total, the investigation identified 12 client governments out of the 40 claimed by NSO, which has always refused to reveal its client list: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Rwanda and Togo.”
Meanwhile, Sullivan held talks with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi officials on the weekend of May 18-19. According to U.S. officials, progress was made on the deal which is also expected to involve the U.S. sharing emerging technologies with Saudi Arabia including artificial intelligence. This author wonders how much and how far the U.S. can trust Saudi leadership to keep their word on the accords once they’re signed. U.S. National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the timing of such a deal is still uncertain. Kirby added that President Biden’s ultimate goal is to achieve a Palestinian state but that Israel’s attacks on Gaza could prevent the deal. It’s interesting how Kirby bandies about with how President Biden wants a Palestinian state but there is always a BUT in his statements. Kirby said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are “closer than we’ve ever been” on an agreement that is now “near final.” Again, the crux of the matter is that once the deal is signed off on, it would be part of a broad deal present to Netanyahu for him to decide if he’s willing to make concessions to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
Isn’t the U.S. forgetting one very important point: ‘Bibi’ aka Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, convicted on three corruption charges including breach of trust and fraud ,has never kept his word. NEVER.
