Senior US administration officials are reporting that US President Donald Trump is demanding that Arab countries that do not have ties with Israel - primarily Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan - immediately join the 'Abraham Accords' and sign official peace treaties.
Channel 12 reported that Trump held a conference call with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. The original purpose of the call was to secure the Sunni countries' support for a deal with Tehran to end the war.
The leaders - including UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, who has previously taken a much more hawkish and aggressive stance on the standoff with Iran - have expressed overwhelming support for the US president. "They all told him: We are with you on this deal, and if it doesn't work, we will be with you then too," shared a senior administration official.
The dramatic turn in the conversation occurred when Trump directly linked the security arrangement with Iran to diplomatic recognition of the State of Israel.
According to the testimonies, Trump made it clear that he expects that immediately after the campaign ends, every country around the table that has not yet done so will open embassies and normalize relations with Israel, while primarily aiming for a historic peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The direct and surprising demand shocked some of those present, especially Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
To demonstrate his seriousness, the president added that he was going to make immediate contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and expressed hope that Netanyahu would be sitting with them on the same conference call in the near future. He announced that his special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, would begin a dedicated round of talks on this issue in the coming weeks.
