Rubio sees more Arab states normalizing with Israel this year

AFP | Washington

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested yesterday that more Arab nations could forge ties with Israel this year, as Washington presses hard for relations to normalize with Saudi Arabia.

“I think we may have good news, certainly before the end of this year, of a number of more countries that are willing to join that alliance,” Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Saudi Arabia was in advanced talks on normalization, backed by then-president Joe Biden’s administration, before the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a massive military operation.

Asked about the Saudi position a week after Trump visited Riyadh, Rubio said: “I think there’s still a willingness to do it.”

“Certain conditions are impediments, October 7 being one of them, but the Saudis have continued to express an interest, as have the Israelis, in reaching that agreement,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while enthusiastic about Saudi normalization, has moved ahead with another major offensive in Gaza, where virtually the whole population has already been displaced.