White House Robert O’Brien ruled on Sunday that Saudi Arabia could “be next” to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia, following the United Arab Emirates’ decision to do so last week.
O’Brien’s remark, which came during an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press, followed a similar assessment by son-in-law of President Donald Trump and close adviser Jared Kushner.
“I think it’s an understatement that Saudi Arabia and Israel will have fully normalized relations and they can do a lot of great things together,” Kushner told CNBC on Friday.
Although O’Brien said he could not provide a ‘timeline’ and described negotiations as the ‘most difficult’ in the world, he suggested that other Arab countries could soon join the UAE in opening diplomatic relations with Israel. The UAE became only the third member of the Arab League to announce its intention to do so, following Egypt’s decision in 1980 and Jordan’s decision in 1994.
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“We think there is momentum for some additional parties to get involved and normalize relations with Israel. We fought away, as soon as this was announced, and have talked – I have been on the phone with leaders in the region, the president has, has Jared Kushner, secretary [Mike] Pompeo has, ‘O’Brien said Meet the Press. “And so we are very hopeful that we can build on this momentum.”
When specifically asked about Saudi Arabia, which is seen as the leader of the Islamic world because it is home to the holiest sites of the religion of Mecca and Medina, O’Brien suggested that the kingdom it example of the UAE could follow.
“Look, it is possible that they could be next. The three great holy places in Islam … are Mecca, Medina, and the King of Saudi Arabia is the keeper of those two sides,” the Trump official declared.
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Newsweek reached the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment, but they did not respond at the time of publication.
Saudi Arabia has not publicly commented on the agreement, but the two leading English-language newspapers of the kingdom Arabic news and the Saudi Gazette have published opinion columns that speak favorably about the deal. Media in Saudi Arabia are censored and tightly regulated by the government.
“If ‘normalization’ is to go along with others, the base set by the UAE must be rebuilt,” wrote columnist Alistair Burt, a former British MP for Arabic news every Sunday.
“As an active Arab country, the UAE has the right to define its policies and guidelines for its foreign relations in accordance with its sovereign decisions and strategic interests,” journalist Jameel Altheyabi wrote for the Saudi Gazette.
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The UAE’s decision to normalize ties with Israel was first announced by Trump on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to push for the annexation of Palestinian land so that the agreement can move forward. While Emirati leaders suggested that this was a victory for Palestinians who justified justification of diplomatic ties, Palestinian leaders condemned the deal as a betrayal.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, criticized the decision shortly after it was announced.
“May you never experience the wrath of stealing your land; may you not feel the pain of living in captivity under occupation; may you never witness the demolition of your house or the murder of your loved ones? May you never be sold out by your ‘friends,’ “Ashrawi wrote in a Twitter post.
May you never experience the wrath of stealing your land; may you never feel the pain of living in captivity under occupation; may you never witness the demolition of your house or the murder of your loved ones. May you never be sold out by your “friends”. https://t.co/CBaNl1QQqx
– Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) August 13, 2020
“The Palestinian leadership rejects and dismisses the UAE’s Israeli and American trilateral, surprise announcement,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement on Thursday.
Palestinians and their supporters have argued that Netanyahu’s promise to stop annexation does not really end the process. They point out that a number of Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, have already been built on lands recognized by the United Nations as Palestinians. They have argued that the suspension will simply stop the more open annexation recently supported by Netanyahu.
Several other Arab nations expressed public support for the UAE decision, including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman. Bahrain and Oman are key allies for Saudi Arabia, and all are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – which also includes Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
