German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (left) listens as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media briefing at the State Department, Sept 15, 2023, in Washington. (PHOTO / AP)

WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel remains “difficult”, and that any agreement between the two should address issues with Palestine.

He said this in response to a question at a press conference also attended by visiting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the US State Department.

Referring to a potential agreement that would normalize the historically fraught ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv, the top US diplomat said, "Even as we are working on this, it remains a difficult proposition.”

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"The specifics of any agreement in terms of what the different parties are looking for are challenging.”

Any agreement that might be reached between Israel and Saudi Arabia when it comes to normalization would need to include a significant component for the Palestinians.

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State 

A future Saudi-Israeli deal "would not be a substitute for Israel and the Palestinians also resolving their difference," he said, adding that the United States still encourages the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to move toward and ultimately achieve a two-state solution.

"Any agreement that might be reached between Israel and Saudi Arabia when it comes to normalization would need to include a significant component for the Palestinians," Blinken said, stressing that he made the stance clear in his conversations with the Saudi leadership.

The Biden administration has sought to broker the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Both countries, however, have done things that upset Washington since US President Joe Biden took office.

For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to push ahead with a controversial judicial overhaul despite US concerns. The Saudi authorities meanwhile have slashed oil production along with its OPEC partners against US wishes.

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These and other contexts prompted a question at the press conference whether it is worth it for the UU to mediate a rapprochement between two of the most powerful yet mutually antagonistic nations in the Middle East.

Calling the normalization a "transformative event in the Middle East and well beyond”, the US secretary of state said: “The benefit that would accrue, were we able to achieve it, would certainly be worth the effort.”

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The Biden administration also expects "progress on a number of issues in a number of areas that clearly are" in the interests of the US, he added.