Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pushed the Biden administration over the weekend to get a mutual defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia to help calm tensions in the Middle East.
Graham made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” during which they discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Blinken said late last week that he thinks Israel and Saudi Arabia can normalize relations even without a ceasefire in Gaza.
“I have been working with Tony and [national security adviser] Jake [Sullivan], and I have talked to President Biden twice,” Graham said. “I want to help them normalize Saudi Arabia and Israel. Saudi Arabia wants a mutual defense agreement with the United States. We have been working on this for weeks. To Tony and Jake, get on with closing the deal on the treaty.”
“Without the treaty, [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] cannot recognize Israel, and part of the deal will be coming up with a solution to the Palestinian problem,” he continued. “Saudi Arabia wants a defense agreement with the United States. They want to enrich the 7 percent of the world’s uranium they have, but we will control enrichment. And they will recognize Israel, but we have got to deal with the Palestinian problem. We’re running out of time. This would be an historic agreement, building on the Abraham Accords, and I’d like to see it happen. I’d like to help President Biden get this done.”
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“Without this deal, there is no solution to the Palestinian problem,” he added. “Without this deal, everything gets worse. So let’s get the deal done. We’re running out of time.”
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