Hyperbole is often the norm these days. Everything has to be the biggest, the best, or the most dramatic. But to say that the prospect of peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be the greatest geopolitical achievement for the Jewish state in the 21st century would not be overplaying it.
As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepares to visit Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, the chance of an alliance between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which for so long has been so unthinkable, has re-entered the realm of possibility. Should it happen, it would be the single most consequential diplomatic achievement of the 21st century, reshaping the entire structure of the Middle East.
It is a moment that would mark an alliance between the birthplace of Islam and the homeland of the Jewish people.
Washington is eager. Trump, who launched the Abraham Accords in 2020, told reporters recently that “we have a lot of people joining now the Abraham Accords, and hopefully we’re going to get Saudi Arabia very soon.”
The crown prince’s upcoming visit could reopen the path to indirect dialogue between Jerusalem and Riyadh. As one Saudi royal source told KAN News on Saturday, efforts are already underway “to thaw the ice between the two countries” and “help bridge positions that had grown more distant during the war.”
It is a thaw that could help reconceptualize the post-Hamas era. Saudi Arabia’s position remains clear: Normalization cannot proceed without movement toward a two-state framework, something that did not obstruct Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco from joining the accords.
“Normalization with Israel will not move forward without a two-state agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,” Saudi officials stressed in the same report.
The plan must involve a clear plan for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
Saudi Foreign Ministry official Manal Radwan said in a Reuters report that a credible plan must include “a clear, time-bound Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the deployment of an international protection force, and the empowerment and return of the Palestinian Authority.” None of this is particularly new, but now that the end of the war is in sight, it has become more pressing to deal with these issues.
American voices are just as insistent that this opportunity can’t be squandered. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post’s Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein in Las Vegas, US Senator Lindsey Graham linked the chance for peace directly to the defeat of Hamas and the weakening of Iran’s proxies.
“You have to give Mohammed bin Salman a political horizon he can sell to the Arab world because it preserves dignity for Palestinians without endangering Israel,” Graham said. Predicting normalization “by May 2026,” he called it the natural culmination of regional realignment. A peace “coupled with a reconstruction program in Gaza that Arab partners can publicly champion.”
For Israel, normalization would cement its acceptance in the Arab and Islamic world, proof that 75 years on, Israel really isn’t going anywhere and that maybe it is time to look forward rather than back. It would also open direct access to Saudi markets, airspace, and influence.
For Saudi Arabia, it would embody Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, that of a confident, modernizing kingdom that is leading the Arab world through economic power, not religious dogma. Both sides have much to gain from each other.
And for the Palestinians, it could provide the first genuine incentive for political reform and reconstruction in a generation, although the main stumbling block is their own desire for peace.
There are, however, obstacles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains opposed to a formal Palestinian state, and public opinion in the Arab world is still raw after the Gaza war. But history rarely offers perfect conditions for peace. It offers opportunities, and this one is extraordinary. Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza are weakened, and Tehran itself has been shaken by Israel and is dealing with internal unrest. Israel must grab the bull by the horns.
Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia would complete the transformation begun by the Abraham Accords. It would unite the Middle East’s two most capable powers in security, technology, and energy cooperation. Most of all, it would send a message that extremism has had its day and the region is looking forward, not back.