White House believes Saudis ‘still committed’ to Israel normalization deal

The White House believes that Saudi Arabia is “still committed” to negotiations with the United States aimed at securing a normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh, despite the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“I think we came away from those discussions confident that there’s a path to get back toward normalization and that there’s still interest on the Saudi side in pursuing that,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says during a press briefing.

“Obviously, what’s going on between Israel and Hamas makes it harder to make practical progress on it right now,” he says, adding that the sides were still months away from an agreement before October 7.

“We’re still committed to it, it’s clear to us that the Saudis are still committed to it. But obviously, we’re all focused… on what’s going on there in Gaza,” Kirby adds.

US readouts issued after meetings with Saudi officials in recent weeks have included lines about a shared desire from both countries to “build on” the negotiations that were being held before the war.

Saudi readouts have made no such references to the normalization talks and have instead stressed Riyadh’s firm stance in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. The kingdom has warned Washington that a major Israeli ground incursion could have catastrophic regional ramifications, a US official told The Times of Israel earlier this week.