President Trump has been welcomed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The royal welcome to the Saudi Arabian president begins his trip to the Middle East.
While President Donald Trump is likely to keep some deals with Saudi Arabia on arms sales and technology investments this week, his desire to see the Gulf state join the Abraham Accord is likely to be a more severe selling.
Speaking at the Investment Forum in Riyadh on May 13, Trump expressed his hope that Saudi Arabia would soon join the Abraham Accord. This is a series of regularization agreements between Israel and Arab countries, established during his first term.
“When Saudi Arabia joins us, it will be a special day in the Middle East.
He began his second term and then ran through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before being in the kingdom as part of his first presidential visit to the Middle East.
Trump said it was his “a passionate hope” for Saudi Arabia to quickly sign its own normalization agreement with Israel, adding, “You will do it in your own time.”
What is Abraham’s agreement?
The Abraham Agreement, signed in 2020, established normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the states of Morocco, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan. The state’s decision to recognize Israel was destroyed by a long-standing consensus between Arab countries that formal relations with Israel only arise with the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The agreement was led by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. It was touted as a path to peace between Israel and its neighbors. The name emphasizes Abrahamic religion as a point of commonality instead of conflict.
The agreement argues that through diplomacy, science, art, medicine and commerce, it aims to “advance a culture of peace between the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity, in order to promote pagan and intercultural dialogue.” Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and most recently Sudan has signed agreements and established ties with Israel.
The Trump administration and Abraham agreement brokers have long expressed interest in Saudi Arabia, which will be participating in the agreement since 2020, and other proposed agreements to establish diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Israel have not made progress.
Contribution: Reuters.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA Today. You can contact her kapalmer@usatoday.com And with x @Kathrynplmr.
