TEL AVIV — Ahead of the Nov. 18 White House meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump, Israeli officials are still keen on pushing normalization with Saudi Arabia, but acknowledge that any progress announced during the visit may be vague.

"The chances of an announcement on normalization during the visit are not high," a senior Israeli diplomatic source familiar with the intense contacts on the issue told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "But there is a good chance that the issue will be mentioned, explicitly or implicitly, in one of the official announcements. The critical question is whether it will happen in the coming year before the elections in Israel or be postponed until afterward.”

According to this source, the Saudis are holding out for three US promises in return for normalization, raised during Trump’s meeting with the crown prince in 2017. Riyadh is seeking a defense pact with Washington that includes the sale of F-35 fighter jets, US-supervised civilian nuclear technology and an Israeli commitment to “a political path that will eventually lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state," he said.

The F-35 sale appears within reach, while a defense pact requires Senate approval, which remains unlikely. Earlier this week the administration amended its draft proposal to the UN Security Council on ending Israel’s two-year war in Gaza to include stronger language on Palestinian self-determination and a credible path to a Palestinian state.