"One of the reasons Hamas moved on Israel… they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis," Biden said on Friday as quoted by a reporter in the White House press pool. "Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel."
Earlier this week, Biden said that the process of normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not dead but will take some time.
According to Biden, the Saudis, the Emiratis, and other Arab nations understand that their security and stability is enhanced if there's normalization of relations with Israel.
Saudi Arabia reportedly ended the normalization talks after the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out on October 7, although Biden has insisted that a deal is still possible.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman during his Sunday meeting with Blinken emphasized the need to rein in Israel’s retaliatory response to Hamas’ attacks and stop its military operations and siege on Gaza’s civilian population.