Foreign Policy

Matthew Petti | 11.21.2024 10:09 AM

The vote before the Senate on Wednesday was simple: Should the United States give Israel another $20 billion in weapons, largely paid for by the American taxpayer? (The Senate voted overwhelmingly to continue the arms transfer.) But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.) had something quite different in mind. He took the opportunity to promote the "historic opportunity" to "change the region and change the world" by permanently committing U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia.

That vision is bipartisan, at least as far as Graham is concerned. The Republican senator bragged about his work with the Biden administration over the past two years "to try and build out the Abraham Accords," the agreements between Israel and several Arab states.

"What I would like to do with President [Joe] Biden before he leaves office is to work with President [Donald] Trump, the incoming president, and President Biden, the outgoing president, to find a solution," Graham said. "Can we lock down a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel that protects Saudi Arabia—a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia so they're in our column and they........

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