US, Saudis press Israel for Palestine peace talks in return for Riyadh normalisation: report

Washington and Riyadh want Israel to restart peace talks with the Palestinian Authority in return for the US to broker a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to a report from Israel’s Channel 12. 

The report aired Tuesday evening claims that both the US and Saudi Arabia are trying to pressure Israel into restarting peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, while Washington is also demanding that Israel halt its judicial reforms. 

Israel's proposed judicial reforms, which would give the parliament more control over the Supreme Court, have been paused after opponents organised some of the biggest protests ever seen in Israel. 

Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman told the Arab League that "the Palestinian issue was and remains the central issue for Arab countries, and it is at the top of the kingdom’s priorities".

The Saudis have also made more demands in return for normalisation with Israel, according to the report. Riyadh wants the Biden administration to unfreeze Trump-era weapons deals, a defence treaty with the US akin to NATO, as well as the approval of its civilian nuclear programme. 

Israel agreed to normalise relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco in 2020 and with Sudan in 2021 as part of the US-brokered 'Abraham Accords'. A similar deal with Saudi Arabia appears to be edging closer to completion in recent months, as reports emerged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke twice over the phone in recent weeks. 

Hopes that normalisation pacts between Arab states and Israel would lead to some respite for Palestinians have not materialised so far. In 2020, the UAE’s ambassador to the US said the deal with Israel was signed to "prevent the annexation" of the Palestinian territories by Israel. 

Since then, however, Israel has continued to shore up its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and demolish Palestinian homes.

Israel in 2023 unleashed renewed violence against the Palestinians, as soldiers and settlers have killed 156 Palestinians this year - an average of more than one per day.