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Exclusive: US-Saudi defence pact tied to Israel deal, Palestinian
demands put aside
By Samia Nakhoul, James Mackenzie, Matt Spetalnick and Aziz El Yaakoubi
September 29, 20235:44 AM PDTUpdated 4 hours ago

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives U.S. President Joe Biden
at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15,
2022. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
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Summary
Defence pact won't match Saudi wish for NATO-style deal
U.S. source says pact could be like Bahrain agreement
Washington may designate Saudi a Major Non-NATO Ally
Deal with Israel could help reshape the Middle East
U.S. State Dept says: 'Still lots of work to do'
Sept 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military pact
requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening
ties with Israel and will not hold up a deal even if Israel does not
offer major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood,
three regional sources familiar with the talks said.

A pact might fall short of the cast-iron, NATO-style defence guarantees
the kingdom initially sought when the issue was first discussed between
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden during the U.S.
president's visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022.

Instead, a U.S. source said it could look like treaties Washington has
with Asian states or, if that would not win U.S. Congress approval, it
could be similar to a U.S. agreement with Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy
Fifth Fleet is based. Such an agreement would not need congressional
backing.

Washington could also sweeten any deal by designating Saudi Arabia a
Major Non-NATO Ally, a status already given to Israel, the U.S. source said.

But all the sources said Saudi Arabia would not settle for less than
binding assurances of U.S. protection if it faced attack, such as the
Sept. 14, 2019 missile strikes on its oil sites that rattled world
markets. Riyadh and Washington blamed Iran, the kingdom's regional
rival, although Tehran denied having a role.

Agreements giving the world's biggest oil exporter U.S. protection in
return for normalisation with Israel would reshape the Middle East by
bringing together two longtime foes and binding Riyadh to Washington
after China's inroads in the region. For Biden, it would be a diplomatic
victory to vaunt before the 2024 U.S. election.

The Palestinians could get some Israeli restrictions eased but such
moves would fall short of their aspirations for a state. As with other
Arab-Israeli deals forged over the decades, the Palestinian core demand
for statehood would take a back seat, the three regional sources
familiar with the talks said.

"The normalisation will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia. If the
Palestinians oppose it the kingdom will continue in its path," said one
of the regional sources. "Saudi Arabia supports a peace plan for the
Palestinians, but this time it wanted something for Saudi Arabia, not
just for the Palestinians."

The Saudi government did not respond to emailed questions about this
article.

'LESS THAN A FULL TREATY'
A U.S. official, who like others declined to be named because of the
sensitivity of the matter, said the parameters of a defence pact were
still being worked out, adding that what was being discussed "would not
be a treaty alliance or anything like that ... It would be a mutual
defence understanding, less than a full treaty."

The official said it would be more like the U.S. relationship with
Israel, which receives the most advanced U.S. weapons and holds joint
air force and missile defence drills.

A source in Washington familiar with the discussions said MbS had asked
for a NATO-style treaty but said Washington was reluctant to go as far
as NATO's Article 5 commitment that an attack on one ally is considered
an attack on all.

The source said Biden's aides could consider a pact patterned on those
with Japan and other Asian allies, under which the U.S. pledges military
support but is less explicit about whether U.S. troops would be
deployed. However, the source said some U.S. lawmakers might resist such
a pact.

Another template, which would not need congressional approval, would be
the agreement signed with Bahrain on Sept. 13, in which the U.S. pledged
to "deter and confront any external aggression" but also said the two
governments would consult to determine what, if any, action would be taken.

The source in Washington said Saudi Arabia could be designated a Major
Non-NATO Ally, a step which had long been considered. This status, which
several Arab states such as Egypt have, comes with a range of benefits,
such as training.

The second of the regional sources said Riyadh was compromising in some
demands to help secure a deal, including over its plans for civilian
nuclear technology. The source said Saudi Arabia was ready to sign
Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, establishing a framework for
U.S. peaceful nuclear cooperation, a move Riyadh previously refused to take.

The Gulf source said the kingdom was prepared to accept a pact that did
not match a NATO Article 5 guarantee but said the U.S. had to commit to
protecting Saudi Arabia if its territory was attacked. The source also
said a deal could be similar to Bahrain's agreement but with extra
commitments.

'LOTS OF WORK TO DO'
In response to emailed questions about details in this article, a U.S.
State Department spokesperson said: "Many of the key elements of a
pathway towards normalisation are now on the table and there is a broad
understanding of those elements, which we will not discuss publicly."

"There's still lots of work to do, and we're working through it," the
spokesperson added, saying there was not yet a formal framework and
stakeholders were working on legal and other elements.

The spokesperson did not address specifics about the U.S.-Saudi defence
pact in the response.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the possibility of
a "historic" peace with Saudi Arabia, the heartland of Islam. But to
secure the prize, Netanyahu has to win the approval of parties in his a
far-right coalition which reject any concessions to the Palestinians.

MbS said in a Fox News interview this month that the kingdom was moving
steadily closer to normalising ties with Israel. He spoke about the need
for Israel to "ease the life of the Palestinians" but made no mention of
Palestinian statehood.

Nevertheless, diplomats and the regional sources said MbS was insisting
on some commitments from Israel to show he was not abandoning the
Palestinians and that he was seeking to keep the door open to a
two-state solution.

Those would include demanding Israel transfer some Israeli-controlled
territory in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority (PA), limit
Jewish settlement activity and halt any steps to annex parts of the West
Bank. Riyadh has also promised financial aid to the PA, the diplomats
and sources said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said any bargain must recognise
the Palestinian right to a state within the 1967 borders, including East
Jerusalem, and must stop Israeli settlement building. However, all the
sources said a Saudi-Israeli deal was unlikely to address those
flashpoint issues.

Netanyahu has said Palestinians should not have a veto over any
peacemaking deal.

Yet, even if the U.S, Israel and Saudi Arabia agree, winning support
from lawmakers in the U.S. Congress remains a challenge.

Republicans and those in Biden's Democratic Party have previously
denounced Riyadh for its military intervention in Yemen, its moves to
prop up oil prices and its role in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi, who worked for the Washington Post. MbS denied ordering
the killing.

"What's important for Saudi Arabia is for Biden to have the pact
approved by Congress," the first regional source said, pointing to
concessions Riyadh was making to secure a deal.

For Biden, a deal that builds a U.S.-Israeli-Saudi axis could put a
brake on China's diplomatic inroads after Beijing brokered a
rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which Washington accuses of
seeking nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

"There was a sense that the U.S. has abandoned the region," said one
diplomat. "By courting China, the Saudis wanted to create some anxiety
that will make the U.S. re-engage. It has worked."

Reporting by Samia Nakhoul in Dubai, James Mackenzie, Dan Williams and
Ali Sawafta in Jerusalmen, Aziz El Yaacouby in Riyadh, Steve Holland,
Matt Spetalnick, Humeyra Pamuk and Patricia Zengerle in Washington;
Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Edmund Blair

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