US Senate Democrats Challenge Biden on Potential Saudi Security Guarantee in Israel Normalization Deal

A group of 20 Democrats in the US Senate on Wednesday wrote to President Joe Biden to raise concerns about a potential US security guarantee for Saudi Arabia as part of a deal to normalize the kingdom’s relations with Israel.

The letter — led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a longtime skeptic of the US-Saudi relationship — notes that US defense treaties have typically been reserved for fellow democracies that share US values.

“The US has long refrained from committing our nation to treaty-backed security guarantees in the volatile Middle East, a region rife with conflict,” the letter says. “A high degree of proof would be required to show that a binding defense treaty with Saudi Arabia — an authoritarian regime which regularly undermines US interests in the region, has a deeply concerning human rights record, and has pursued an aggressive and reckless foreign policy agenda — aligns with US interests, especially if such a commitment requires the US to deploy substantial new permanent resources to the region.”

Other signatories to the letter include fellow Saudi skeptics Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is an independent but caucuses with the Democrats.

A formal defense treaty with Saudi Arabia would require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. However, the Biden administration is also reportedly considering a less formal defense arrangement, such as naming Saudi Arabia as a “major non-NATO ally” — a status that comes with a range of benefits but does not require Senate approval.

In Wednesday’s letter, the 20 senators also raise concerns about some of Saudi Arabia’s other demands, including US approval of a Saudi civilian nuclear power program with capacity for uranium enrichment.

“While we should seriously consider whether it is in US interests to help Saudi Arabia develop a domestic nuclear program, we should always maintain the high bar of the ‘gold standard’ 123 Agreement and insist on adherence to the [International Atomic Energy Agency’s] Additional Protocol [on nuclear safeguards],” the letter says. 

Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act permits the United States to export peaceful nuclear technology to a country provided that they agree to certain restrictions, including a prohibition on enrichment, reprocessing, and transfer of nuclear materials without US consent. In the Middle East, the US currently has such “gold standard” nuclear agreements with Turkey, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

While the Saudis say that the Palestinian issue remains an important feature of a potential normalization deal with Israel, regional sources have said that the Palestinians will not hold a veto over the agreement. However, Israeli concessions to the Palestinians remain a key negotiating point for the Biden administration, which the 20 senators underline in their letter.

“The agreement should include meaningful, clearly defined and enforceable provisions to achieve your stated objective of preserving the option of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to ensure that there be ‘equal measures of dignity and security’ for both Israelis and Palestinians,” the letter says. “This should include, among other measures, a commitment by Israel not to annex any or all of the West Bank; to halt settlement construction and expansion; to dismantle illegal outposts (including those that have been retroactively ‘legalized’); and to allow the natural growth of Palestinian towns, cities, and population centers and the ability to travel without interference between and among contiguous Palestinian areas.”

The lawmakers describe these elements as “essential to any sustainable peace in the Middle East and to preserving Israel’s own future as a Jewish, democratic state.”

The Biden administration has said that the “basic structure” of an Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement is in place, and Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said recently that the deal could be ready by as early as the first quarter of 2024.

The post US Senate Democrats Challenge Biden on Potential Saudi Security Guarantee in Israel Normalization Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.