Mike Pompeo urges to exclude corrupt Palestinian Authority from Saudi-Israeli normalization deal

Former secretary of state stresses that financial assistance to PA undermines both peace and local prosperity

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently warned against including the Palestinian Authority in a potential normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Pompeo stressed that financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) undermined both peace and local prosperity in a joint opinion column he wrote for The Hill political website.

"It is past time to stop funding Palestinian aid through an organization like the Palestinian Authority that has no intention of yielding a return on that investment, and whose corruption and misgovernance works directly at cross-purposes with shared U.S., Israeli and Saudi goals of promoting peace, prosperity and stability. Instead, the United States and Saudi Arabia should create a responsible mechanism for helping the Palestinians – not furthering PA corruption and support for terrorism," Pompeo said.

Serving under the former Trump administration, Pompeo played a central role in advancing the historic Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords in 2020, Israel's normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Saudi Arabia and Israel currently do not have official diplomatic ties. However, the Saudi Kingdom tacitly approved the Abraham Accords. In addition, the Saudi leadership has increasingly indicated during the past months that under the right conditions, Saudi Arabia could potentially normalize its relations with the Jewish state.

The PA vocally opposed the Abraham Accords, claiming fellow Arab states abandoned Palestinians. Some believe that in an effort to avoid such a scenario, the Saudi Kingdom recently reportedly offered to resume financial assistance to the PA, in exchange for it accepting a Saudi-Israeli agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal.

However, the Saudis have also indicated that they expect Israel to make territorial concessions to the PA before agreeing to any Saudi-Israel normalization agreement.

In August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's willingness to make some concessions to Palestinians for possible Saudi-Israel peace deal.