Washington is signalling that its “commitments towards Middle East allies have not vanished, contrary to common belief,” Zineb Riboua, of the Hudson Institute, told JNS.
President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE prioritizes Gulf-specific goals over Israel’s broader Middle East integration, a key focus of his first term. Dalia Ziada, a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JNS the trip targets deals like Saudi mining agreements and a UAE AI partnership, signaling U.S. reliability against China and Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join Trump to strengthen strategic partnerships.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has ruled out normalizing ties with Israel without a Gaza ceasefire and progress toward a Palestinian state. Danny Citrinowicz, an Atlantic Council fellow, told JNS that MBS, as a Sunni leader, cannot overlook Israel’s Gaza operations while pursuing normalization. With Israel politically unable to advance Palestinian statehood, Trump may offer Saudi Arabia bilateral arms deals and civilian nuclear cooperation, bypassing normalization for now.
Zineb Riboua, a Hudson Institute fellow, disagrees, suggesting Trump is pursuing Israel-Saudi normalization akin to the Abraham Accords. She told JNS that Trump will first secure Saudi-U.S. agreements to prove U.S. commitment, then push for Israel’s regional integration. The U.S. State Department noted the trip aims to address global challenges, expand trade, and reinforce Gulf alliances, with discussions potentially covering a revised U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, which concerns Gulf states threatened by Iran.