Saudi Arabia’s New Alliances Spark Antisemitic Concerns as Jewish Groups Meet Defense Minister

Several prominent Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have been invited to meet Friday afternoon in Washington with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, according to Jewish Insider. The groups included in the meeting are the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman — the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — is in Washington for high-level talks with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. These meetings occur amid heightened tensions between the United States, Iran, and Israel.

Israeli officials plan to share intelligence on potential Iranian targets while Saudi officials have pushed for a diplomatic solution aimed at preventing a broader regional conflict. The outreach comes as some groups have raised concerns about what they describe as an increase in antisemitic and Islamist rhetoric from Saudi Arabia.

Those organizations have been careful not to derail hopes for Saudi Arabia eventually joining the Abraham Accords — a long-sought diplomatic goal that has remained elusive. A Middle East analyst told Jewish Insider this meeting will be “complete window dressing.” The analyst noted: “The Saudis may try and rationalize their way out of their new alignment with Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey and say everything is fine with the UAE when evidence says otherwise.”

The analyst added: “They may also want to send a message to Jewish organizations with absolute clarity that they will not be joining the Abraham Accords until there’s a Palestinian state, especially ahead of a rumored visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington in the next 30 days.”

Netanyahu earlier this week accused Saudi Arabia of moving closer to regional actors hostile to Israel, casting further doubt on near-term normalization between Jerusalem and Riyadh. “We expect from anybody who wants normalization or peace with us that they not participate in efforts steered by forces or ideologies that want the opposite of peace,” Netanyahu said.

Jewish leaders meeting with Saudi officials should reinforce this message, according to the source: “If these Jewish organizations do attend the meeting, they should give a stern message to Saudi leadership that their new strategic alliances and promoting antisemitism and being destructive in the region regarding Israel are not helpful.”