Trump Says Israel Has Been “Very Helpful” to Saudi Arabia Against Houthis, Puts Normalization Back on Table

On Friday, October 16, U.S. President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia should accept Israeli help, stating, “Israel’s been very helpful to Saudi Arabia.” Haaretz reported that Trump made the remark as Saudi Arabia wages war against Yemen’s Houthis. The Media Line described the Houthis as an Iran-backed group that has targeted Saudi airports, oil facilities and shipping with missiles and drones.

Trump also suggested that Saudi-Israeli normalization could be back on the table, “maybe more than ever,” according to The Media Line. Haaretz quoted him as saying that an Abraham Accords agreement with Riyadh was “back on the table.” The Media Line reported that one Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 13 people.

The two reports differ on what Trump’s comments show about Saudi policy. Haaretz presented Israel’s help as already aiding the war, based on Trump’s account. The Media Line reported that Trump’s comments did not establish whether Riyadh had requested Israeli military assistance or agreed to any overt security partnership.

Dr. Yoel Guzansky of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies told The Media Line that Saudi Arabia did not guarantee any open contact with Israel, citing public opinion. Reuters reported a separate episode on September 30, when Riyadh refused an Israeli request to let military aircraft retrieve Israeli passengers from a Flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Any renewed push for normalization would therefore have to account for both Saudi domestic opinion and the security pressures in the region, a case for patient peacemaking (Romans 12:18).

The Media Line also noted that, before the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, Saudi Arabia and Israel had been moving toward a possible US-brokered normalization agreement.