US Jewish Groups Invited To Meet Saudi Defense Minister In Washington As Riyadh Embraces Anti-Israel States

Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have been invited to a meeting Friday afternoon in Washington with Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, according to four sources familiar with the outreach who spoke with Jewish Insider on Thursday.

Those invited include the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Republican Jewish Coalition. As of Thursday morning, however, it remained unclear which of the organizations planned to attend.

Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is in Washington this week for meetings with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

The invitation comes amid unease among Jewish organizations over a recent uptick in antisemitic and Islamist rhetoric emerging from Saudi Arabia. At the same time, many groups have been careful in their public criticism as they continue to back the long-standing – and increasingly uncertain – effort to bring Riyadh into the Abraham Accords.

“This meeting will be complete window dressing,” one Middle East analyst familiar with the invitation and Saudi Arabia’s broader regional realignment told Jewish Insider. “The Saudis may try and rationalize their way out of their new alignment with Pakistan, Qatar and Turkey and say everything is fine with the UAE when evidence says otherwise.”

The analyst suggested the outreach may also be intended to manage expectations ahead of a potential diplomatic moment. “They may also want to send a message to Jewish organizations with absolute clarity that they will not be joining the Abraham Accords until there’s a Palestinian state, especially ahead of a rumored visit by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to Washington in the next 30 days,” the analyst added.

“If these Jewish organizations do attend the meeting, they should give a stern message to Saudi leadership that their new strategic alliances and promoting antisemitism and being destructive in the region regarding Israel are not helpful.”