US says it's working to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said the US administration is exerting efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

In an interview to the Israeli i24 News channel, Nides said the Biden administration is working to expand the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries.

In September 2020, the US-brokered what became to be known as the Abraham Accords, which paved the way for Israel to establish ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

"I work every day with Bahrainis, Moroccans, Emiratis, Egyptians and Jordanians about the improvement of relationships with Israel," Nides said.

"We'd like to see normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, we think it's hugely important, and we're working with Israel to obtain that," he added.

There was no comment from the Saudi authorities on the US diplomat's remarks.

Abraham Accords

On Monday, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a pro-Israeli US-based think tank, said a recent opinion poll showed that only 40 percent of Saudis back relations with Israel.

The institute added that only 20 percent of Saudis see the Abraham Accords as having "positive results for the Middle East".

Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and opposes normalisation until Tel Aviv ends the decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Egypt and Jordan were the first Arab countries to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, in 1979 and 1994, respectively.

In 2020, four more countries followed suit, including Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan after the announcement of the so-called Abraham Accords.