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On September 15, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established diplomatic relations with Israel by signing the Abraham Accords in Washington. The normalization of the two Gulf states with a Jewish state came after US President Donald Trump and his administration brokered the historic deal. (Read: Israel believes it will soon reach a new normalization agreement with Arab countries)
Saban, quoted Haaretz on Thursday (22/10/2020), said Crown Prince MBS conveyed the death threats recently to him. According to him, Riyadh cannot join the UAE and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel.
“That’s because it might end up with the crown prince being killed by Iran, Qatar, or their own people,” Saban said.
According to the newspaper, Saban revealed Prince MBS’s remarks during an interview with Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch that took place on the sidelines of a campaign event. online named “Israel’s Security and Prosperity in a Biden White House” on Wednesday. (Read: Head of Mossad: Israel and Saudi Arabia Maintain Peaceful Irregular Relations)
The billionaire, who is known for being an avid Democratic Party donor, also told Deutch that “all credit” associated with signing a peace deal between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain should go to a senior adviser who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law; Jared Kushner, and his aide Avi Berkowitz, who worked really hard on it.
Saban’s remarks came about a week after US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi and Manama and normalize its relationship with Israel.
Pompeo also praised Riyadh’s help in uniting Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi and Manama, but he declined to reveal the nature of that support. (Read: Prince of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Supports Palestine, but Not Its Leaders)
Bahrain and the UAE became the first Gulf countries to normalize relations with Irsael. The three countries signed the Abraham Accords on Sept. 15 in Washington, after the Trump administration brokered the historic agreement.
The two Gulf states expressed readiness to cooperate with the Jewish state in a variety of sectors, from culture to regional security. The deal was in exchange for Israel to delay its plans to extend sovereignty over the Palestinian part of the West Bank. (Also read: Hamas replies to the prince of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh only serves Israel, shame)
Bahrain and the UAE are only the third and fourth Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
Saudi Arabia does not criticize or support the Abraham Accords or the Abrahamic Covenant, which Palestinian and Iranian leaders fiercely oppose. Riyadh was also behind a 2002 initiative stipulating that Arab states could only normalize relations with Israel after Tel Aviv agreed to a two-state solution with Palestine and Israeli territories like the pre-1967 map.
The signing of the agreement takes place against the backdrop of the complicated relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Last year, Riyadh, along with Washington and London, accused Tehran of being behind the September 14 2019 drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facility. The State of the Mullahs strongly rejects the accusation.
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