Rubio signals more Arab-Israel normalizations as Trump pushes Saudi entry into Abraham Accords

As the Trump administration seeks to facilitate the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday declared that additional Arab nations will form ties with the Jewish state this year.

“I think we may have good news, certainly before the end of this year, of a number of more countries that are willing to join that alliance,” Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Saudi Arabia was previously in advanced talks on normalization with Israel during the Biden administration, before the brutal Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which ignited a 17-month war that continues to rage.

When asked about the Saudi position a week after Trump visited Riyadh, Rubio said, “I think there’s still a willingness to do it,” but noted, “The Saudis are the ones who have expressed their inability to move forward on it so long as the conflict is happening in Gaza.”

The Saudi Kingdom also emphasized that the contingency for normalizing ties is the Israeli agreement to allow for the establishment of an irreversible Palestinian state, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to oppose.

While U.S. President Donald Trump was in Riyadh last week on his first trip to the Middle East, he expressed “fervent hope” that Saudi Arabia will enter the Abraham Accords in the near future.

In September 2020, Trump formed the Abraham Accords in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco became the first Arab countries in decades to normalize relations with Israel. The agreement aims to "promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue to advance a culture of peace among the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity," through diplomacy, science, art, medicine and commerce. Later, Sudan also signed the accords and all the participating nations continue to form security, trade and tourism agreements. 

Speaking at an investment forum during his visit to Riyadh, Trump said, “It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us, and you'll be greatly honoring me and you'll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East.”