President Donald Trump is actively pressuring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to move forward with normalizing relations with Israel, according to senior U.S. officials. In a phone call last month, following the Sharm El Sheikh peace summit that solidified the Gaza ceasefire, President Trump directly communicated his expectations.
According to a report from Israel’s Channel 12, Trump told the Crown Prince that with the war in Gaza now over, he “expects progress” on the landmark peace deal. A U.S. official confirmed the call, stating, “Our message to the Saudis is: ‘We did all the things you asked for. Now, there are things President Trump wants, like normalization with Israel. So how are you guys going to move now in this direction?'”
MBS reportedly responded that he was “willing to work on it with the WhiteGaza war” (Source 1.2).
However, the U.S. push is colliding with a firm Saudi precondition. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly and publicly stated that it will not formalize ties with Israel without a “time-bound, irreversible pathway to a future Palestinian state.” This remains a significant obstacle, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government are “staunchly opposed” to Palestinian statehood.
This diplomatic tug-of-war is set to dominate high-stakes meetings in Washington. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to visit the White House next week for his first official visit since 2018. According to diplomatic sources, the Saudi delegation intends to focus the talks on finalizing a new U.S.-Saudi defense pact and securing investments. The Trump administration, in contrast, is keen to make normalization the central topic, hoping to expand the Abraham Accords.
This has led to a major deadlock. A senior Saudi researcher, Ali Shihabi, who is considered close to the kingdom’s leadership, recently stated that a normalization deal under the current Netanyahu government is “almost impossible,” describing the political situation as “too toxic” for Riyadh to pursue.
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