Speculation has swirled that Hamas brutally attacked Israeli citizens in order to derail possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. A 45-minute phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi lends further credence to that theory.

Let’s go back to last month — less than two weeks ago, in fact — when the White House boasted of the “basic framework” in place for Israel-Saudi normalization.

On September 30, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced to reporters:

All sides have hammered out, I think, a basic framework for what, you know, what we might be able to drive at.

Even Crown Prince bin Salman said that “every day we get closer” to normalization with Israel.

But then Hamas attacked Israel last weekend. Still, Kirby remained hopeful:

I think it’s too soon to say that, you know, we hit the brakes on this. It’s just, understandably, isn’t the main area of focus right now. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say, you know, we’ve given up on it or we don’t have any interest in pursuing it. It just, again, given the circumstances, is not, not on the front burner, but certainly we’re not discarding.

However, MBS said not so fast:

The Kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situations as a result of the continued occupations, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repeating of systematic provocation against its sanctities.

A phone call between the Crown Prince and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi held on Wednesday seemed to put Kirby’s hopes on ice.

Saudi Crown Prince Throwing Israel Under the Bus

Raisi’s office was the first to respond, bragging that they won MBS over to their side. Chief of Staff Mohammad Jamshidi posted at Twitter/X that both leaders agreed on the need to end “war crimes” against Palestinians. He also decried the US.

In the first phone call between Ayatollah Raisi & HRH Mohammed bin Salman, the 2 agreed on the need to end war crimes against Palestine. Islamic unity was stressed & both believed the regime's crimes & the US green light will cause destructive insecurity for the regime & backers.

— Mohammad Jamshidi (@MhmmdJamshidi) October 11, 2023

Meanwhile, the Saudi state news agency SPA announced that the Crown Prince “affirmed that the Kingdom is making all possible efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation.” Al-Arabiya also reported that MBS emphasized the necessity for observing international and humanitarian laws.

And to stop Israel from striking Gaza. Not a word about Gaza’s resident terror group Hamas, however, which has beheaded babies among other atrocities.

The phone call is the first time the two leaders spoke directly after China brokered a normalization deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March. That was a political surprise, coming on the heels of the Biden administration criticizing the Kingdom for its handling of human rights and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.

“Jamal Khashoggi” by وكالة فارس نيوز (Behrooz Firoozi) is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

The Kingdom had severed ties with Iran in 2016 after the storming of its embassy in Tehran after the Saudis executed a Shi’ite Muslim cleric.

Then there were the 2019 drone strikes on Saudi oil facilities. Iranian proxies the Houthis from Yemen also carried out cross-border missile and drone attacks.

But four days of secret talks in Beijing appeared to put all that to rest, and the two countries agreed to resume their ties.

Muslim Nations Gonna Muslim

The Saudi Crown Prince may have flirted with making nice with Israel. And the Biden administration were hoping that normalization between the two countries would be the big foreign policy victory that they could tout during the 2024 election.

We told you so! Joe Biden is the master of foreign policy! 

But while Iran and Saudi Arabia may bicker over Shia vs. Sunni Islam, both nations have negative views of Israel. And you know the saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. So now both sides will come together in support of Palestine, not Israel, which was targeted and attacked by Hamas terrorists from Palestine.

The Saudi Press Agency’s announcement after the momentous phone call said it all:

He also stressed – may God protect him – the Kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive and just peace that guarantees the Palestinian people’s access to their legitimate rights. 

The Biden administration’s dream of normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia is now dead. The attacks by Hamas last weekend put the knife in, and Wednesday’s phone call between the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the president of Iran twisted it deeper.

Featured image: Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister’s Office/ CC BY-NC 2.0./”Ebrahim Raisi at Interior Ministry for presidential nomination 07” by Kouchari is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Images compiled.