U.S. and Saudi Arabia Discuss Major Gaza Peace Deal

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Thursday about a potential mega-deal that would include Saudi normalization with Israel.

With the war in Gaza ongoing and the U.S. presidential election just seven months away, White House officials admit there's a slim chance they can pull off the historic peace agreement. Sullivan's trip shows President Biden is still determined to pursue it.

The White House continues to work toward a draft U.S.-Saudi defense treaty and understandings related to U.S. support for a Saudi civilian nuclear program, according to four U.S. and Israeli officials.

U.S. officials hope to reach a bilateral agreement with the Saudis and then possibly present it to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose side of the deal would include committing to a path toward a two-state solution.

Netanyahu would then face a choice: If he agrees, he could broke a historic peace deal with Saudi Arabia. If he says no, he could be exposed as a rejectionist and lose whatever U.S. support he still has left.

The White House declined to comment. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Many in the White House think the Saudi mega-deal is a pipe dream, citing the war in Gaza, Netanyahu's dependence on his radical right-wing coalition partners, and U.S. domestic politics.