Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York said he “would not bet against” President Donald Trump’s ability to convince Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords.
York appeared on Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier Tuesday before the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the District of Columbia. Trump expressed confidence that bin Salman will sign on to the Abraham Accords during his interview on CBS News’s 60 Minutes earlier this month.
“He basically thinks he can will this into existence. So, the crown prince doesn’t want this. He wants that. We’ll figure something out. But Trump’s will shows that he believes he can just make it, create it, and come up with this peace plan,” York said. “I wouldn’t bet against him on that. He has been very, very good on these things.”
Kazakhstan was the latest country to sign the international deal to normalize relations with Israel when President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed on last week. The majority Muslim Asian country is the first to sign on during Trump’s second term, as Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco signed on during the first.
During a trip to Saudi Arabia in May, Trump said that it’s his “dream” that Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords. A Saudi-Israel peace deal was reportedly on the verge of agreement before the Hamas attack reshaped the region.
Trump brokered the peace deal between Israel and Hamas, which demanded the disarmament of Hamas and allowed its members who gave up their arms to seek amnesty. In return, they would receive aid delivery. However, the Israeli government is withholding half the number of humanitarian aid trucks originally set to flow into Gaza due to Hamas’s slow release of deceased hostages.
A DECADE AGO, THE START OF THE TRUMP ERA
According to Hamas, they would need “special equipment” to extract the deceased hostages’ remains that were buried under rubble.
The crown prince signaled that Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords would be contingent on the peace deal remaining intact.