https://axios.com/saudi-mega-deal-biden-israel-normalization-pal…
Senior Biden advisers quietly visited Saudi Arabia last week to continue talks on a potential mega-deal that could include a peace agreement between the kingdom and Israel, two sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Talks for the deal gained momentum last month following President Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But it also became clear there are still many issues to work out, including a Palestinian component to any such agreement, and that the process will take time.
The Biden administration is pushing to get a mega-deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel before the 2024 presidential campaign consumes Biden's agenda.
Behind the scenes: Brett McGurk, the White House Middle East czar, and Amos Hochstein, Biden's senior adviser for energy and infrastructure, visited Saudi Arabia for several hours last Thursday, the sources said.
The White House did not disclose their trip.
McGurk and Hochstein met with MBS and other senior Saudi officials and discussed the different elements of the mega deal, according to the sources.
One of the sources said the Biden advisers also discussed other regional and bilateral issues.
@BurritosJakeGreen7mos7MO
One of the most ridiculous and laughable things I've ever seen is sanctimonious US and British sports journalists criticizing athletes and sports leagues for doing business with Saudi Arabia.
These people seemingly have no clue how the world works. But they become geopolitical "experts" the minute geopolitics starts to creep into their sports.
@BurritosJakeGreen7mos7MO
It’s incredible. The PGA went after competing golf league LIV and said they are dishonoring 9/11 families. A few months after, they embraced Saudi backed league, when it made financial sense to do so. No apologies to the people they publicly attacked
@QuirkyL0bby1stRepublican7mos7MO
What happened to Biden making Saudi Arabia a “pariah”?
@C0ngressChileSocialist7mos7MO
Same thing that happened to student loan forgiveness.
@QuirkyL0bby1stRepublican7mos7MO
Remember the rage when Trump maintained friendly relations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt: never before had an American president embraced such brutal tyrants, the US media said with a straight face.
@L3ftWingCarolineRepublican7mos7MO
We need to be upset when Trump does stuff like this.
We need to be happy when Biden does.
Am I getting that right? I don't want to be canceled or anything.
@EgalitarianAlDemocrat7mos7MO
Would you vote for Biden if he stood up to Saudi-Arabia and tried to make bin Salman a pariah?
@L3ftLeaningCockatoo7mos7MO
No. I will never vote for Biden. I don't vote for neocons.
@EgalitarianAlDemocrat7mos7MO
That's why he can cozy up to Saudi-Arabia like Trump did. It doesn't matter to you, but it matters to lots of people who votes based on how they feel about gas prices.
