Saudi Arabia and Abraham Accords: Normalization with Israel is in Riyadh's best interests - opinion

French president Charles de Gaulle famously stated that “Countries don’t have friends, countries have interests.” It now seems plausible that Saudi Arabia and Israel have mutually beneficial interests that were unimaginable in the past. Let’s look at the recent history and the current situation regarding Saudi Arabia. 

Starting in 1902, Abdul Aziz bin Saud, known as Abdulaziz, and his followers captured Riyadh, and then began conquering clans and tribes across Arabia. His modus operandi was to marry a young woman from each tribe that he conquered. In this way, he united the conquered tribes into the House of Saud. He ended up marrying 22 women and fathered 45 sons and an unknown number of daughters. In keeping with the laws of the Quran, he never had more than four wives at any one time.

In September 1932, Abdulaziz officially renamed Arabia as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and declared himself king. The kingdom is officially a Sunni Islamic State with the Quran as its constitution. It remains an absolute monarchy with no elections.

In 1932, the country had a population of approximately 2.8 million and was one of the poorest countries on Earth. Most of the country was a barre...
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