U.S. President Donald Trump has described the establishment of formal relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel as a “dream,” but emphasized that he wants Saudi Arabia to proceed at its own pace.
This was reported by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, May 13. On the same day, the White House announced several economic and defense agreements with Saudi Arabia worth hundreds of billions of dollars, though there was no mention of Israel in those announcements.
Analysts note that normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel was a core aspect of former President Joe Biden’s Middle East policy. However, Trump appears to be shifting focus away from that priority.
Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said the Trump administration has made it clear that it is willing to proceed with major agreements with Saudi Arabia without requiring normalization with Israel. This may reflect growing frustration within the Trump administration over Israel’s military actions, particularly in Gaza.
Christian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at the Baker Institute, said the ongoing war in Gaza and Israel’s rejection of discussions on a Palestinian state have led Trump to realize that now is not the right time for a Saudi-Israel deal.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said, “I think the White House has finally acknowledged that a normalization deal is not feasible at this moment.”
