As a 2020 presidential candidate, Mr. Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia an international “pariah” for its conduct in the war in Yemen, and to “pay the price” for the 2018 murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Early in his tenure, Mr. Biden released a classified intelligence report finding that the killing of Mr. Khashoggi was “approved” by Prince Mohammed. Since then, Saudi Arabia has angered Biden officials with cuts to oil production, which they say cost American consumers and generated profits for a Russian war machine heavily financed by oil.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment directly on diplomatic discussions but said the Biden administration supports closer ties between Israel and its Middle East neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though Mr. Netanyahu has said often, most recently in an interview Thursday in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, that he aimed to strike a diplomatic deal with Saudi Arabia. “I certainly believe that the peace agreement between us and the Saudis will lead to an agreement with the Palestinians,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to questions about the discussions. One Saudi official said that the checklist should be taken seriously but that Saudi Arabia still predicates normalization on the creation of a Palestinian state.
Two people familiar with the matter said the U.S. negotiations are being led by Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, and Amos Hochstein, Mr. Biden’s top aide for global energy issues. One said that Prince Mohammed has played a direct role in the negotiations but that the more active interlocutor lately has been the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud.
After making their wishes known to U.S. and Israeli officials, senior Saudis began communicating them late last year to policy experts in the United States, including members of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israel think tank, who visited Riyadh in October.
Senior Saudi leaders “bitterly noted what they believe was U.S. indifference to Saudi security concerns,” Robert Satloff, the executive director of the institute and a member of the visiting group, wrote with a colleague in a subsequent report.
