Joe Biden being welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah in July last year. Photo: Royal Court of Saudi Arabia handout / Anadolu Agency via AFP
By Nandita Bose, Kanishka Singh and Costas Pitas, Reuters
The 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel - which killed about 1400 people - aimed to disrupt a potential normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden says.
In comments made at a campaign fundraiser, Biden suggested Saudi Arabia wanted to recognise Israel.
Saudi Arabia, a Middle East powerhouse and home to Islam's two holiest shrines, gave its blessing to Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain establishing relations with Israel in 2020 under the previous US administration of Donald Trump.
But Riyadh had not followed suit itself, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first.
"One of the reasons Hamas moved on Israel ... they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis," Biden said.
"Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel."
The potential normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states was a top priority for Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his June trip to Riyadh, although he acknowledged no progress should be expected imminently.
Blinken told CNN on 8 October that "it wouldn't be a surprise that part of the motivation (for the attack) may have been to disrupt efforts to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together".
Biden told CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview that aired last Sunday that the prospect of normalisation was "still alive, it's going to take time".
Israel responded to the 7 October attack by pounding Gaza with air strikes, killing more than 4000 people, and has said it will act to free hostages taken by Hamas militants while "wiping out" the group.
- This story was first published by Reuters