WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden acknowledged in a recent press talk that the Oct 7 raid by Hamas on Israel might have achieved its target of disrupting a potential normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“One of the reasons Hamas moved on Israel … they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” said Mr Biden at a Washington fundraiser earlier this week. “Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel,” he added.

Such a deal would have further isolated the Palestinians who were kept out of the entire process, although it have had the greatest impact on their future.

The quotes, reported by international media outlets, confirmed speculations in Washington that the Oct 7 attack was not a random incident. It was planned ahead, with a single objective: preventing Saudi Arabia from recognising Israel.

President Biden, however, did not mention the move to establish diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia when he addressed his nation on Friday.

Instead, he mentioned another deal that Washington is working on with its European partners and India.

“The India-Middle East-Europe rail corridor that I announced this year at the summit of the world’s biggest economies” would create “more predictable markets, more employment” and “less rage, less grievances, less war when connected,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2023