{"id":85788,"date":"2024-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/05\/05\/jake-sullivan-says-theres-no-unilateral-saudi-us-deal-but-tom-friedman-says-its-still-in-the-cards\/"},"modified":"2024-05-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T00:00:00","slug":"jake-sullivan-says-theres-no-unilateral-saudi-us-deal-but-tom-friedman-says-its-still-in-the-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/05\/05\/jake-sullivan-says-theres-no-unilateral-saudi-us-deal-but-tom-friedman-says-its-still-in-the-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Sullivan says there\u2019s no unilateral Saudi-US deal, but Tom Friedman says it\u2019s still in the cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends<\/strong> \u2014 we have a big issue for you this morning to kick off the week, so let\u2019s jump right in:<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY HERE AT HOME- White House national security advisory Jake Sullivan <\/strong>says there\u2019s no defense pact with Saudi unless there\u2019s normalization with Israel. <\/strong>Sullivan made the comment at Financial Times<\/a> event over the weekend, saying \u201cThe integrated vision is a bilateral understanding between the US and Saudi Arabia combined with normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, combined with meaningful steps on behalf of the Palestinian people. All of that has to come together \u2026 you can\u2019t disentangle one piece from the others.\u201d<\/p>\n

BUT, BUT, BUT\u2026 <\/strong>Reuters<\/a><\/strong> has joined <\/strong>Bloomberg<\/a><\/strong> in reporting that an agreement is in the works, citing multiple sources. And the New York Times\u2019 Tom Friedman claims sources in Riyadh and DC tell him that \u201c<\/a> the US and the Saudis are considering finalizing the deal and taking it to Congress<\/a><\/strong> with the stated proviso that Saudi Arabia will normalize relations with Israel the minute Israel has a government ready to meet the Saudi-US terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

A way of putting pressure on Netanyahu? <\/strong>Are the two news agencies picking up on a strategy that would see Riyadh and Washington tell the Israelis, in effect, \u201cWe\u2019re in agreement on everything from a defense pact to normalization \u2014 but you need to recognize an independent Palestinian state. Are you in or out?\u201d<\/p>\n

Squint the right way, and Sullivan told the FT as much<\/strong>, saying \u201cit will ultimately be up to the Israeli leadership and frankly ultimately the Israeli people can decide whether that\u2019s a path they want to take or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- Agreements on at least three issues are in the works<\/strong>, reports suggest. Beyond the defense pact, we could see: <\/p>\n