Israel supports the bid to host the 2030 World Expo

The bilateral action could give a new impetus to the US government’s efforts to broker a normalization deal between Jerusalem and the Saudis.

Israel has pledged to support Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo. As part of that, an unnamed Israeli delegate will attend a reception in Paris at Saudi Arabia’s invitation, where Riyadh’s campaign for Expo 2030 will be presented. The crown prince is also expected to attend. Prince Mohammed bin Salman this event.

The 179 member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which manages world’s fairs, will decide on a host city in November. In addition to Riyadh, the other candidate cities are Busan in Korea, Rome in Italy, and Odessa in Ukraine.

Israeli support and Saudi advocacy could give a boost to the Abraham Accords and thus advance Washington’s efforts to normalize relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem through diplomatic channels.

A push for the Abraham Accords?

In recent months, US President Joe Biden’s administration has sent senior figures to Saudi Arabia, including White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, who arrived in late May on an unannounced visit to the Gulf kingdom. In a recent report by The New York Times However, a senior US government official was quoted as estimating the chances of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords at less than 50 percent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently repeated this In an interview with Sky News, the normalization agreement with the Saudis would be a “quantitative leap forward” and would change history. During Netanyahu’s previous tenure as prime minister, Israel, mediated by the United States, concluded diplomatic recognition agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

In April, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that establishing diplomatic relations with Israel “will bring enormous benefits to the entire region. It will be very beneficial from an economic, social and security point of view.”