Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, stated on Thursday that Riyadh could potentially act "quite quickly" on some bilateral agreements with Washington, even if a comprehensive deal involving the recognition of Israel is not achieved, AFP reports.
Prince Faisal reiterated that normalization with Israel was "off the table until we have a resolution to Palestinian statehood."
However, speaking at the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, he noted that agreements in other areas could still move forward soon.
"The bilateral agreements we are working on with the US are actually multiple agreements," said Prince Faisal.
"Some of them we can progress probably quite quickly, and some of them we are working on — especially those related to trade, AI, et cetera — which are not tied to any other third parties," he added.
Since last year, Saudi Arabia has been seeking a defense pact with the United States along with support for a civilian nuclear program.
This proposed deal would include the Gulf kingdom recognizing Israel for the first time.
While Saudi Arabia and Israel appeared to be on track towards normalization before Hamas’ attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, Saudi Arabia put the US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice shortly after that attack and the war in Gaza which followed.
In September, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized that an "independent Palestinian state" was essential for normalization.
Prince Faisal acknowledged that defense-related components are tied to the normalization process.
"Some of the more significant defense cooperation agreements are much more complicated," he noted.
"We would certainly welcome an opportunity to finish them before the current administration's term, but that's reliant on other factors outside of our control."