The United States cannot move forward on a defense pact with Saudi Arabia unless the deal also includes a normalization agreement with Israel, US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) told The Jerusalem Post.
“There will not be 67 votes in the United States Senate for a defense agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States that doesn’t have an Israeli component,” he said in a telephone interview late Thursday. “That’s been true from day one and remains true.”
Graham has worked to promote a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel from across the aisle, even though it would give a boost to US President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. He has shuttled between Washington, Riyadh, and Jerusalem to push the matter forward.
The Israel part of the agreement has always been viewed as necessary to sway Republicans to support the deal. The approval of 67 out of 100 senators is needed because the defense pact between Washington and Riyadh is at the level of a treaty. Being that there are 48 Democratic senators, 49 Republicans, and three independents, the only way to move forward is with bipartisan support.
The US has hit an important goal post by finishing this important pillar of the deal, which is the defense pact, Graham said. READ MORE