If successful, it could open a new era of integration, prosperity, and regional stability, transforming a regional vision into a sustainable global reality.
By DR. ANAT HOCHBERG-MAROM
Saudi Arabia’s expected entry into the Abraham Accords is a major development that could mark a historic turning point, with sweeping implications for reshaping the Middle East’s geoeconomic landscape.
Its growing involvement in the region, from advancing a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to confronting a weakening Iran and the erosion of the Shia axis alongside Turkey’s rising regional influence, positions Riyadh to help shape a new strategic and security order.
Normalization with Jerusalem, brokered by Washington, could provide an anchor of regional stability and set the area on a new path of integration, innovation, and economic growth. Such normalization would open a new realm of opportunities and a broad platform for economic, technological, and security cooperation among Israel, the Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco.
On a symbolic level, it would grant broad legitimacy to the accords and signal to additional countries across Asia and the Muslim world, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan, that national interests can be advanced through cooperation and recognition of Israel. This would come despite the significant erosion in Israel’s standing and image on the international stage, especially now amid the escalation of the war in the Gaza Strip, and despite the internal challenges and international pressure on the Saudi kingdom from both the US and Arab states.
Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Muslim world and the Middle East’s largest, strongest, and most stable economy (GDP of $1.22 trillion in 2025), is a major center of diplomatic, religious, and economic power.
Its integration into the Abraham Accords is expected to bring about a profound, far-reaching paradigm shift, reflecting a move from policies of confrontation, factionalism, and power struggles to a constructive approach based on shared understandings and regional cooperation. Normalization would alter regional dynamics and the balance of power, significantly weaken Iran’s influence, and, in turn, strengthen Israel’s status as a leading, legitimate partner.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia, the world’s second largest oil producer after the US, which produces 10.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and ranks second globally in proven oil reserves, aims to diversify and expand its economy under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030.” An investment of $147 billion, for example, in upgrading transportation infrastructure, ports, airports, and railways, alongside expanding tourism, is expected to contribute 10% to Saudi GDP and attract about 150 million visitors by 2030.
Capital for innovative projects
Meanwhile, expanding trade and economic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia would make it possible to advance breakthrough initiatives in advanced agriculture, digital health, aviation, culture, and desert tourism, and perhaps most importantly in renewable energy, for example through seawater desalination, the use of gas or wind turbines, green hydrogen, and solar energy, such as the Israeli company SolarEdge, which is currently operating there.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), whose value is currently estimated at $1.2 billion, is expected to open a direct investment channel with Israel, establish joint funds, and inject capital into innovative projects in science, medicine, energy, and the environment. This would come in addition to the exchange of know-how and advanced technologies, mainly in cyber, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI), which would spur modernization and growth in Saudi health care, logistics, and finance. The combined impact of these steps is expected to support Riyadh’s sustainability goals and give Israel new export opportunities to vast target markets in Saudi Arabia and across the Arab world, encompassing millions of companies, businesses, and people.
What is more, Saudi Arabia’s geographic location at a key junction linking Asia, Africa, and Europe gives it a unique strategic logistical advantage. Its entry into the Abraham Accords is expected to strengthen physical and digital connectivity in the Middle East and lead to a major upgrade of overland trade and transport corridors, alongside stronger regional supply chains.
In addition, its integration could expand political and security cooperation with Israel and with other countries in the region, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and advance joint international projects, foremost the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), connecting India, the Persian Gulf, and Europe. These moves, aligned with Saudi megaprojects like the construction of the futuristic city NEOM, bolster US influence in the region and offer a strategic alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), curbing its regional influence.
Bypassing the Hormuz Strait
Normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel could anchor the Middle East’s role as a global logistics hub that links continents, cultures, markets, and technologies. In addition, signing a bilateral free-trade agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem, alongside a multilateral trade agreement with the other partners to the accords, is expected to significantly increase economic and business activity, deepen regional integration, and accelerate growth. Recent reports on this topic indicate that such cooperation could yield “strategic dividends” and generate cumulative economic activity of about $250 billion over the next decade, with 7% growth in the Saudi economy and 13% in the Israeli economy. These figures are a strong indication of the enormous potential inherent in this move.
Beyond the implications noted above, Saudi Arabia’s entry into the accords is expected to bring a significant change to the global energy market. Normalization with Israel would deepen energy cooperation, with an emphasis on diversifying export routes and developing alternative infrastructure that would link the Persian Gulf directly to the Mediterranean Sea. Such a move could expand Israel’s options for oil imports, as it currently imports 99% of its crude from countries such as the US and Azerbaijan, and would establish Saudi Arabia as a key energy supplier while reducing reliance on traditional sources. This would upgrade supply chains and logistics across the region and streamline the transport of oil, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to markets in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Reducing dependence on sensitive trade routes such as the Hormuz Strait and the Suez Canal, through which more than 30% of global oil supply passes, is expected to increase market stability, reduce price volatility, and lower the risk of geopolitical disruptions, especially in light of threats from Iran and its regional proxies, foremost the Houthis. According to recent assessments, such steps would lead to greater stability in global energy supply, fewer shocks in energy markets, and a reduced risk of a global recession stemming from security or economic crises. In addition, Saudi-Israeli cooperation and joint projects in renewable energy could accelerate Saudi Arabia’s transition to a sustainable economy and secure Israel’s status as an international technology player.
This is a geostrategic move of major importance with enormous potential to transform the region. Saudi Arabia’s expected entry into the accords would leverage regional alliances and position the Middle East as a global economic, energy, and logistics hub that influences the world economy. It would create a moderate, stable, and prosperous regional bloc capable of confronting security threats, curbing the influence of Iran and the radical axis, and expanding breakthrough cooperation in the fields of economy, technology, and energy.
However, alongside these opportunities, there are complex geopolitical challenges. There is broad public opposition in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to moving away from the Palestinian issue and pushing resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the margins. For example, a WINEP public opinion poll from December 2023 indicates overwhelming opposition, 96%, among the Saudi public to normalization with Israel, a troubling figure that suggests a real risk to the accords’ legitimacy and the potential for protests and rising tensions. In addition, geopolitical and security developments since the accords were signed on September 15, 2020, and the ongoing progress in contacts, especially recently, heighten concerns about an intensifying regional arms race and increased strategic competition over spheres of influence between the US and China.
Against this complex backdrop, the success of the normalization process largely hinges on a pragmatic multilateral dialogue that includes advancing a diplomatic solution with the Palestinians. If successful, it could open a new era of integration, prosperity, and regional stability, transforming a regional vision into a sustainable global reality.
The writer is an expert on geopolitics, international crises, and global terrorism.
15/08/2025 by THE JERUSALEM POST
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