Watan-The American website “Axios” has revealed important details and intriguing behind-the-scenes information about the visit of Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer to the United States, and its connection to normalization with Saudi Arabia.
According to the site, the Israeli minister is flying to the U.S. capital, Washington, to conduct talks about the Gaza war and the plans for the following day to end the fighting.
The Israeli minister will discuss these issues with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other senior officials in the Biden administration.
Normalization at the forefront of the talks
The anticipated discussions will focus on post-war strategy from Washington’s perspective, primarily related to promoting normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. This is seen as fundamentally linked to calming the situation in Gaza and working towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The site describes Dermer’s visit and talks in Washington as highly significant, given that he is the closest confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the most trusted, possessing a fundamental understanding of Netanyahu’s thinking.
It’s worth noting that before the Al-Aqsa storming on October 7th of last year, Dermer was the prominent Israeli official and representative of Tel Aviv in sensitive discussions regarding the normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
Biden administration’s aspirations
According to the report, the Biden administration hopes to use a potential normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a means of pressure to persuade Israel to join its Gaza plan after the war.
Axios points out that, based on the American strategy, Netanyahu will ultimately have to decide the type of political blow, if any, he is willing to endure locally in order to secure a historic normalization deal.
Netanyahu opposes the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, and his government includes extreme nationalists who oppose even small initiatives towards the Palestinians.
U.S. officials acknowledge that it is highly unlikely for them to agree on a path leading to the establishment of a future Palestinian state. However, the Biden administration will continue to exert pressure regardless of these matters, according to Axios.