President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week is as much about building new ties between those two nations as it is about managing America’s own relationship with the countries. Israel and Saudi Arabia are increasingly aligned in their opposition to Iran – an arch-rival and growing nuclear threat – among other hot-button global issues. And while the establishment of formal diplomatic ties is not expected, the trip could begin to lay the groundwork for what would be an historic rapprochement. A warming of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be a foreign policy win for Biden. But it could undercut the push for a two-state solution – the creation of an independent Palestinian nation alongside Israel – which has been the North Star of a negotiated settlement to the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Still, any normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be a "long process," said Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser. #biden #israel #saudiarabia