Saudi Arabia is pushing for a military agreement with the US that would require the US to protect the kingdom in exchange for opening up relations with Israel, and won’t back down even if Israel doesn’t offer big concessions to the Palestinians, according to three regional sources with knowledge of the talks.
A US source said the US-Saudi agreement could look like deals with Asian countries, or if that doesn’t get the green light from Congress, could be like a US deal with Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Washington could also make the deal sweet by making Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally, which it already does with Israel, the source said. While the deal is expected to include some concessions from Israel on the Palestinian side, according to three sources, the Palestinians’ core claim to statehood would be secondary.
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