The charge, from human rights campaigners and some Democrats, follows the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi regime agents and comes amid mounting criticism of a proposed new defence treaty between Washington and Riyadh that could result in Saudi Arabia granting official recognition to Israel.
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Joe Biden is facing accusations of betraying a pre-election promise to re-evaluate ties with Saudi Arabia over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in favour of pursuing a rapprochement with the kingdom aimed at repelling a challenge from China to US primacy in the Middle East.
Biden took office initially intending to downplay the traditional US role in the Middle East, a policy consistent with holding Saudi Arabia at arm’s length following the outcry that greeted Khashoggi’s murder.
The Biden administration’s initially cool relations towards Saudi Arabia began to warm, according to analysts, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year triggered international sanctions, forcing western countries to seek urgent alternatives to Russian energy supplies.
Now Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia’s prime minister and de facto ruler, is haggling for a pact – which could include security guarantees and US technology to develop a nuclear energy programme – in return for establishing full diplomatic ties with Israel, a prized goal of the Biden administration.
In October 2020, marking the second anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder, Biden pledged that his administration would “reassess our relationship with the kingdom … and make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil”.
The letter also demands that Israel does not annex any part of the West Bank and stop the construction of settlements on the territory to meet Biden’s stated aim of “preserving the option of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
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