The Biden administration has been quietly mediating talks between Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt on negotiations “that, if successful, could be a first step on the road to the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” an exclusive report in Axios said.
Five U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios that the deal is centered around talks concerning the transfer of two islands, the Tiran and Sanafir islands, from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. Controlling those islands means control the Straits of Tiran — a strategic sea passage to the ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.
As the report notes, if an arrangement is reached and relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia are normalized, it would amount to a significant foreign policy achievement for the Biden administration in the Middle East, and successful negotiations could also lower tensions between the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia.
The islands sit between Egypt’s resort destination of Sharm El-Sheikh and Saudi Arabia’s now under-construction city of NEOM.
Axios includes a helpful background on the islands and their special status under a 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
[Click here to read the full report]
