Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg “For example, in energy issues, he entered with a policy to completely stop the use of fossil fuels not only in the United States, but worldwide, and now he must rely on fossil fuels as a means to cover the energy shortage that has arisen, not only because of the war in Ukraine, but also because of the very American policy that closed the pipelines and stopped issuing … oil discovery on American soil,” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Central to the fraying relationship between the two historic allies is the allegation by the US intelligence community that the crown prince, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, directly ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Saudi Arabia’s government has repeatedly denied the accusation. Prince Turki, who was Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief between 1979 and 2001 and has also served as the kingdom’s ambassador to the US, questioned Washington’s belief that it maintains the moral high ground on human rights issues. “So instead of yelling at each other, we should be trying to improve what would be on the ground both for the people of the United States and for the people of Saudi Arabia,” he said. “So what I would say is, any visitor and not just the American president who has complaints about Saudi issues like human rights and so on, please get off your horse.” Also central to the president’s agenda during the Middle East trip is the peace process, and Biden on Friday pledged an additional $100 million to support Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem as he sought to revive political dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Thursday that action should be discussed if Iran continues to develop its nuclear program, urging the US to take a tougher stance against Tehran. Prince Turki said that while he hoped Biden could make some progress, “the deck is stacked against him.” “His visit to Israel I think showed that he doesn’t use his history very much to force Israel, for example, to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions, whether 242 or 338, or later resolutions supported by the USA in the past,” he said. He added that Biden will have a tough time convincing the Saudis that he is sincere in working with Riyadh on issues such as peace, energy, terrorism and Iran. “These are files that are full of baggage from the past, and trying to untangle them will be a big task for the president,” he said.
