US, Saudis near security deal, with or without Israel

What happened

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are “nearing a historic pact” that would offer the Saudis advanced weapons and “security guarantees” and create an opening for possible “diplomatic ties with Israel” if its government commits to a path to Palestinian statehood and stops its war in Gaza, Bloomberg said Wednesday. If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government balks, the Saudis want a “more modest plan B, which excludes the Israelis,” The Guardian said.

Who said what

The “intense work” the U.S. and Saudis have done on “our own agreements, I think, is very close to completion,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Riyadh on Monday. A bilateral agreement is “very, very close,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud agreed.