Israel-Saudi developments to be announced during Biden trip — senior official

Tangible developments in the budding Israel-Saudi relationship will be announced during US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region this week, a senior Israeli official says.

“It’s a delicate relationship, it’s very fragile, novel in many respects,” says the official during a Zoom briefing to reporters. “I would urge you to be patient for a few more days before we can put out in the open what will actually be the immediate materialization of this process.”

The official says that Israel is operating as if “the steps we are taking now will only be the beginning, the start of the process of normalization between the countries.”

Israel supports the détente in tense relations between Washington and Riyadh since Biden took office, stresses the official. “It’s important for the US, it’s important for Israel and important for the security of the region.”

Biden is set to land at Ben Gurion Airport tomorrow for a visit that will include Israel and the West Bank, before leaving for Saudi Arabia on Friday. Israeli officials have expressed hope for progress with Saudi Arabia during the trip.

The US played down hopes for a breakthrough in Israel-Saudi relations on Monday, saying normalization between the countries would be a “long process.”