Abraham Accords

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, stating that such a move would be “very helpful” for regional stability and cooperation.

The Abraham Accords, first signed in 2020, marked a significant diplomatic breakthrough as Israel normalised relations with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, later joined by Morocco. The agreements represented a shift in Middle East diplomacy by establishing ties without resolving the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Saudi Arabia is widely seen as the most consequential potential participant, but it has consistently maintained that normalisation with Israel is contingent on meaningful progress toward Palestinian statehood. The issue remains politically sensitive, given the Kingdom’s status as the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites and its influential leadership role in the Arab world.

Regional dynamics have also evolved in recent years. In 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations under a China-brokered agreement, ending a seven-year period of estrangement and reshaping geopolitical alignments in the region.