Saudi Arabia would be willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding, in a bid to get a defense pact with Washington approved before the US presidential election, three sources said.

Months of US-led diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel and recognize the country for the first time were shelved by Riyadh in October in the face of mounting Arab anger over the war in Gaza.

But Saudi Arabia is increasingly keen to shore up its security and ward off threats from rival Iran so the kingdom can forge ahead with its ambitious plan to transform its economy and attract huge foreign investment, two regional sources said.

[That’s a pretty tasty opening, and it would be devastating to Hamas and Hezbollah in terms of morale. The Israelis would prefer to have a reliably pacified state for the Palestinians in order to put an end to the issues of occupation, but they need the Saudis, Jordanians, and Egyptians to take responsibility for that pacification. The Israelis can’t do it on their own, and the Palestinians won’t pacify themselves. — Ed]