JERUSALEM, Israel – A leading Republican senator came to Israel this week after a visit to Saudi Arabia to announce that he and the Biden administration are trying to work out an important deal: Saudi recognition of the State of Israel.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) says Saudi Arabia wants better relations with the U.S. The kingdom is trying to make itself more appealing to outsiders, and it wants to stabilize the powder keg that is the Middle East and Persian Gulf region.
Graham believes a peace deal with Israel would help make all that happen.
At a Jerusalem press conference Monday, Graham said Saudi recognition of Israel “would be the biggest change in my lifetime in the Mideast. It would bring about stability in a troubled region. It would allow Saudi Arabia to reach new heights in terms of economic development. It would give Israel security she has not known since her founding. It would be monumental in terms of the region to have the largest, most consequential force in the Arab world – Saudi Arabia – recognize the one and only Jewish state.”
On another front, Graham warned that Iran moving closer to developing nuclear weapons is something Israel and the U.S. cannot allow.
“From an Israeli point of view, this is an existential threat. From America’s point of view, it would be one of the most destabilizing things in the world,” he explained. “The crown prince told me in Saudi Arabia ‘if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, we will have a nuclear weapon.’ It would be just a matter of time till the entire region becomes nuclear-armed if we allow the Iranians to develop nuclear weapons capability.”
To see Senator Graham’s comments in an excerpt from Jerusalem Dateline, click on the video above.
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