Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has reportedly approached US lawmakers saying that he fears being assassinated over his pursuit of normalization with Israel.
According to a Politico report published on Wednesday, the Saudi royal, popularly called MBS, indicated to visiting US lawmakers that he still intends to move ahead with forging ties with the Jewish state. Citing three people briefed on the conversations, the report said that the crown prince members of Congress that he’s putting his life in danger by pursuing a grand bargain with the US and Israel that includes normalizing Saudi-Israeli ties.
As per the report, MBS, on at least one occasion, also invoked Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian leader slain after striking a peace deal with Israel. He asked the visiting Congressmen about what the US did to protect Sadat. The Saudi royal also reportedly discussed the threats he faces in explaining why any deal between Riyadh and Jerusalem must "include a true path to a Palestinian state — especially now that the war in Gaza has heightened Arab fury toward Israel."
“The way he put it was, ‘Saudis care very deeply about this, and the street throughout the Middle East cares deeply about this, and my tenure as the keeper of the holy sites of Islam will not be secure if I don’t address what is the most pressing issue of justice in our region,'” Politico reported quoting a source familiar with the conversations.
Nevertheless, MBS reportedly appeared "intent on striking the mega-deal with the U.S. and Israel despite the risks involved. He sees it as crucial to his country’s future."
It was, however, not clear when the Saudi crown prince discussed his potential assassination.
Israeli-Saudi Normalization
In his first three years in Office, US President Joe Biden's Middle East strategy was focused on a single, straightforward project: normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Washington thought such a deal could stabilize the tumultuous region and constrain an increasingly emboldened Iran.
Though Saudi Arabia has insisted on not recognising Israel as a state since its independence in 1948, there has been discrete but growing cooperation between America’s two of the most important allies in the Middle East in recent years, raising hopes for a normalization agreement.
Earlier, Biden has said Saudi Arabia wants to “fully recognize Israel” in exchange for security guarantees from Washington and the establishment of a civilian nuclear facility.