![A large poster depicting Saudi Arabia, Syria, Oman, and Lebanon leaders alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is placed on a billboard to highlighting the push for diplomatic relations in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 26, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AA-20250626-38395639-38395638-AFTER_THE_CEASEFIRE_WITH_IRAN_POSTER_DEMANDING_ISRAELS_NORMALIZATION_WITH_ARAB_COUNTRIES_DISPLAYED_IN_TEL_AVIV.jpg)
Despite years of quiet overtures, symbolic gestures, and high-level diplomacy, the prospect of formal normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel remains stalled. At the heart of the impasse lies an immovable but straightforward truth: Riyadh’s price for peace is Palestinian statehood. Jerusalem won’t pay it, and Washington keeps moving the goalposts. In July, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reaffirmed that normalisation “can only come with a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian state.” His remarks coincided with Riyadh’s co-sponsorship of a Paris-led UN initiative aimed at reviving two-state negotiations, a signal that the kingdom’s position is not rhetorical, but strategic. This stance has hardened in the wake of the Gaza war and Israel’s continued expansion of West Bank […]
