EXCLUSIVE: Trump was ‘very close’ to getting Saudis to normalize ties with Israel

EXCLUSIVE: Trump was ‘very close’ to getting Saudis to normalize ties with Israel

By Washington Times, November 7, 2021

The Trump administration was “very close” to getting Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords last year, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who says the Biden administration has squandered the momentum to expand the historic normalization agreements between leading Gulf Arab powers and Israel.

“They took their time even using the phrase ‘Abraham Accords,’” the former ambassador told The Washington Times in a wide-ranging interview timed for the release of a documentary series highlighting the success of the agreements, reached just more than a year ago.

The accords include a normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, sealed at a 2020 White House summit. Although the agreements remain strong, Mr. Friedman said, President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and attempts at rapprochement with Iran have shaken regional confidence in America’s image as a strong ally capable of drawing more countries, most notably the Saudis, into similar deals with Israel.