Saudi Arabia is preparing to cautiously restore indirect communication channels with Israel through Washington, a senior source within the Saudi royal family told Israel’s Kan News on Saturday — a move signaling that Riyadh may once again test the waters of normalization, even as the region remains deeply fractured by the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the Gaza war.
The remarks come just days before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman travels to Washington for a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the first such encounter since Trump returned to the White House.
According to the Saudi source, the Crown Prince expects to revisit the quiet, U.S.-mediated contact that existed between Riyadh and Jerusalem before the October 7 massacre derailed talks and hardened regional positions.
Saudi officials described the goal of the upcoming discussions as an effort to “thaw the ice” — reopening channels for strategic dialogue and attempting to bridge gaps that widened during Israel’s war against Hamas.
But they were equally clear about the limits: no normalization without a credible, binding path toward a two-state agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
That condition has remained the cornerstone of Riyadh’s diplomatic posture even as several Arab and Muslim-majority states have moved toward formal ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework.
A Boost From Kazakhstan
The Saudi assessment was buoyed by Kazakhstan’s surprise entry into the Abraham Accords last week.
The Central Asian nation formally joined the U.S.-brokered normalization bloc during a three-way call between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Trump hailed the decision as the “first of many” new signatories expected during his second term, describing it as a milestone in expanding political and economic bridges “across the world.”
For Riyadh, Kazakhstan’s move is seen as a positive signal that regional and global states remain open to new diplomatic architectures — even amid the Middle East’s most severe crisis in decades.
Normalization Still Far Away, But the Path Is Reopening
Saudi officials cautioned that a breakthrough with Israel is not imminent and will depend entirely on changes in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.
But the willingness to restore indirect U.S.-mediated communication represents a notable shift after a year of silence, cross-border escalation, and political hostility.
With MBS heading to Washington and Trump eager to expand his signature Abraham Accords, the next 10 days may quietly define the future of Middle East realignment — and determine whether Ramadan 2026 begins with a pathway to normalization or another diplomatic dead end.
