Could Biden's Middle East gambit work?

When China brokered a historic deal earlier this year that normalised relations between long-time regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, it came as a huge setback — and challenge — for the Biden administration.

- MALEEHA LODHI

The rapprochement left the US diplomatically marginalised in the Middle East and undermined several of its regional goals, most notably isolating Iran and normalising relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

By playing a mediatory role, China established itself as a major player and power broker in the Middle East, much to Washington’s discomfort. The US barely concealed its unease with this potentially gamechanging development, which has already realigned relations among regional states and begun to transform the strategic landscape there.

Now the Biden administration is trying to get back in the game in the Middle East and contain growing Chinese influence there. President Joe Biden acknowledged that efforts are in progress for a deal with Riyadh aimed at establishing ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. On July 28, he told donors at a fundraiser for his 2024 re-election bid, that “a rapprochement may be underway”. He did not reveal more.

However, details about his new ‘plan’ were disclosed a day earlier in a New York Times op-ed by Thomas Friedman, who had interviewed the president the previous week. According to him, the Biden administration was considering a “big Middle East deal”. This would involve Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel in return for a mutual security pact with the US, and Riyadh committing to provide a generous aid package to the Palestinians in the West Bank and scale back ties with China. Israel, for its part, would promise not to seize the West Bank, cease expansion of settlements there and re-commit to a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority would have to reciprocate by supporting the Saudi-Israel peace deal.