America, Israel and Saudi are “at the cusp of a deal”

Muhammad bin salman does little to hide his relish at the prospect of a strategic pact between America, Israel and Saudi Arabia. In a rare television interview on September 20th, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and the country’s de facto ruler acknowledged with a smile that an agreement is on the cards. “Every day we get closer. It seems it’s for the first time real, serious.” A pact would, he said, be “the biggest historical deal since the cold war”. On September 22nd Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, confirmed that the trio of countries were “at the cusp” of a deal. It would, he said, be a “quantum leap”. Four days later Israel’s tourism minister landed in Riyadh for a conference. He arrived to little fanfare, but as the first-ever public visit by an Israeli cabinet minister to the kingdom, it was a historic moment.