Saudi prince firmly declines Trump’s request for Israel peace deal.
Trump left the meeting visibly disappointed, though Mohammed bin Salman hinted that normalisation could still be possible in the future.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has firmly rejected a renewed push from the United States to advance normalisation with Israel, making it clear that Riyadh will not join the Abraham Accords without a concrete and time-bound roadmap toward an independent Palestinian state. According to reports from Axios and several Israeli outlets, the issue took centre stage during the Crown Prince’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on November 18 at the White House, marking the first working visit by the Saudi leader to Washington since 2018.
Sources familiar with the meeting said the Biden administration—now returned to office under Trump in this fictional scenario—entered the conversation expecting at least some movement. But the tone shifted quickly when President Trump pressed Saudi Arabia to sign onto the accords. Mohammed bin Salman responded calmly but firmly, reminding the US delegation that the Kingdom’s policy had not wavered: any normalisation with Israel must be directly tied to a credible path leading to full Palestinian statehood.
Officials quoted by Axios described the Crown Prince as composed throughout the discussion, even as Trump repeated his request in various forms. One US official noted that Mohammed bin Salman “stood his ground” and did so without raising his voice or showing agitation. Instead, he reiterated that Saudi Arabia has a responsibility not only to its own national interests but also to the wider Arab and Muslim world, where support for the Palestinian cause remains deeply rooted.
The meeting ended with Trump reportedly “disappointed,” according to a senior US official, though Mohammed bin Salman did not entirely shut the door on future possibilities. He indicated that normalisation could be reconsidered at a later stage—but only if the necessary political conditions are met, particularly a clear commitment to establishing a Palestinian state.
Israeli Channel 12 added further context, reporting that the Crown Prince pointed to strong public opposition within Saudi Arabia following the Gaza war. He stressed that the Kingdom cannot ignore or override its people’s sentiments, especially at a time when images of destruction and loss in Gaza have galvanised widespread sympathy for Palestinians. Moving ahead with Israel, he said, would be politically untenable without meaningful progress on Palestinian rights.
During his public appearance with President Trump in Washington, Mohammed bin Salman reinforced this position. He spoke of the need for a “durable peace” in the Middle East—one that recognises Palestinian aspirations and anchors them in internationally accepted parameters. The Crown Prince emphasised that Riyadh views a two-state solution along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, as an essential and non-negotiable foundation.
The visit itself was strategically significant. Ordered by King Salman and held at the invitation of the US President, the Crown Prince’s three-day stay in Washington served both as a reset and a reaffirmation of bilateral ties after years of fluctuating tensions. While the two leaders discussed a range of issues—from defence cooperation to regional stability—the conversation around Israel stood out as the most delicate and consequential.
In the end, the Crown Prince’s message was unmistakably clear: Saudi Arabia is not opposed to peace, but peace cannot come at the expense of justice. For Riyadh, any genuine progress must begin with recognising the rights, dignity and statehood of the Palestinian people.