After years of viewing Saudi Arabia as a keystone in the pro-American alliance in the Middle East, many observers have raised the alarm in recent months over a worrying shift in the kingdom’s posture.
Under powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has been regarded as undeniably autocratic, but also a bulwark against hostile Iran-backed proxies and Muslim Brotherhood blocs.
And there was an assumption that the Saudis would normalize ties with Israel in the near future.
We are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations, 16 days before Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, “a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
US President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed hope that Riyadh would join the Abraham Accords during his first term. After the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, Trump reportedly told MBS that he expected him to move toward normalization with Israel now that the fighting was over.
Published originally under the title “Relax, MBS Isn’t Aligning with Islamists. He Also Isn’t Normalizing with Israel Soon.”
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
