Trump says Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel ‘will happen’
President Trump has told Time magazine he is confident Saudi Arabia will normalise ties with Israel.
“Saudi Arabia will go into the Abraham accords,” Trump said, referencing the historic agreement struck at the end of his first term in 2020, which saw Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalise relations with Israel.
“That will happen,” he added.
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia next month on a Middle East tour that was expected to be his first overseas trip since retaking the White House, though he will now be travelling to Italy first for Pope Francis’s funeral.
He forged close relations with Riyadh in his first term and is expected to push Saudi Arabia towards normalising ties with Israel as a major foreign policy objective.
However, the war in Gaza has complicated those efforts and Saudi leaders have ruled out normalising ties with Israel without the recognition of a Palestinian state, something Netanyahu opposes.
Saudi and French foreign ministers discuss Gaza, efforts for a two-state solution
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud hosted his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, holding discussions focused on several issues including the situation in Gaza.
“Regional and international issues of common interest were discussed, most notably the current situation in the Gaza Strip and the efforts being made for the conference to resolve the Palestinian issue and implement the two-state solution, scheduled to be held next June under the joint chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
Earlier this month, President Macron said France could recognise a Palestinian state “in the coming months”.
