News - Middle East: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claims that a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel is still possible before President Joe Biden exits the White House in January next year.

Blinken told a news conference on Thursday at the US Chief of Mission Residence in Port Au Prince, Haiti that "the ceasefire is an essential prerequisite to being able to move forward with normalization."

"Second, as we’ve discussed, is a credible pathway for a Palestinian state.  A lot of work would have to go into that," he said. 

"But given all the work that we’ve done, the United States has done with Saudi Arabia over the last year in terms of what would be required between us, given the fact that both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and in conversations with us, have expressed clearly that it’s something they’d like to pursue, I think if we can get the ceasefire in Gaza, there remains an opportunity through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalization," Blinken said. 

Back in 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco entered US-brokered rapprochement deals with the Israeli regime.

Washington has also reportedly been trying to add Riyadh to the list in a bid to bolster regional support for Tel Aviv, its most cherished ally.