speech on saudi arabia

King of Saudi Arabia says peace is top priority for his country 

Facebook Twitter Print Email

The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, said on Wednesday that promoting peace is his Kingdom’s top priority in international affairs. 

“The foreign policy of the Kingdom gives utter priority to entrenching peace, security and stability and to supporting dialogue and peaceful solutions,” King Salman said in a pre-recorded message. 

He said Saudi Arabia also wants “to set up conditions conducive for development and ones that achieve the aspirations of peoples for a better future in the Middle East.” 

King Salman was one of the speakers on the second day of the high-level week of the  General Assembly.  After being held virtually last year due the  coronavirus  pandemic, this year’s gathering will feature “hybrid” activities that will include leaders in person along with virtual participants.  

Top donor 

The King promised that Saudi Arabia will remain a top international donor, despite the country’s economic troubles. He said that $800 million in donations were already helping poor nations fight COVID-19.

“Despite our economic difficulties, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to be committed to its developmental and humanitarian role in assisting the most needy states and the most affected states to confront national natural catastrophes and humanitarian crises,” he said. 

According to him, Saudi Arabia ranks as the Arab world’s top donor and that it is third globally.

Iran nuclear issue 

The Head of State assured that, from Iraq to Syria and Libya, his country will work towards peaceful solutions to problems. He also highlighted the situation in Iran, adding that he supports efforts to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons. 

“The Kingdom insists on the importance of keeping the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. On this basis, we support international efforts aiming at preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons,” he said. 

As world leaders prepare to resume talks with Tehran to reinstate a 2015 nuclear pact, King Salman expressed the hope that the “initial talks will lead to concrete results to build confidence.” 

He also addressed the threat of extremism in the region, stressing that Saudi Arabia “continues to fight extremist thinking built on hatred, and keeping in check terrorist organizations and sectarian militias that destroy humanity and nations."

Peace in Yemen

Turning to the conflict in Yemen, he said Houthi rebels keep rejecting the initiatives offered through the United Nations to peacefully resolve the conflict.  

“The peace initiative in Yemen, tabled by the Kingdom last March, sought to end the bloodshed and conflict. It ought to put an end to the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people,” the King argued. 

“Unfortunately, the terrorist Houthi militias reject peaceful solutions. They have placed their bets on a military option to take over more territory in Yemen,” he added.  

• Saudi Arabia
• King Salman

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Independent UN experts say radical Saudi Arabia scholar held for years should be tried or released

This is a locator map for Saudi Arabia with its capital, Riyadh. (AP Photo)

• Copy Link copied

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A radical Sunni scholar whose criticisms of Saudi Arabia’s government and the West drew praise from the l ate al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden should be immediately tried or released from a yearslong arbitrary detention by the kingdom, independent experts working with the United Nations said Wednesday.

Safar bin Abdulrahman al-Hawali had been one of the prominent voices behind the Sahwa, or “Awakening” movement, in the kingdom, which called for strictly observing hard-line Wahhabi beliefs and criticized its royal Saud family . Al-Hawali has been held without trial since 2018 as part of a wider crackdown on all dissent under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al-Hawali, now in his mid-70s, was cited specifically by bin Laden in his 1996 declaration of war on the United States as one of the clerics detained by the kingdom purportedly on the order of the Americans.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities called for al-Hawali’s release, saying ailments from strokes he suffered in 2005 and 2006 have made it difficult for him to speak or care for himself.

“He has chronic apraxia of speech, which precludes him from moving his facial muscles to speak and be understood,” the committee said in its 16-page report. “He is unable to move around alone and has a broken pelvis and renal failure that require constant medical care.”

Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the committee’s report described Saudi Arabia as contending that al-Hawali “enjoys his legal rights and all available services and programs, that his health is ‘good’ and that he receives medical care like other detainees.”

His preachings on cassette included decrying the American presence in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, during and after the 1991 Gulf War . The cleric also wanted to limit the powers of the royal family. The wider Sahwa movement fell under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Arab Islamist political movement long viewed with suspicion by the hereditary rulers of the oil-rich Gulf Arab states.

In 2018, al-Hawali published what was described as a 3,000-page book called “Muslims and the Western Civilization” that included criticisms of Prince Mohammed and the kingdom’s at-the-time quiet communications with Israel . Saudi officials immediately detained him after that.

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President   Biden on His Meetings in Saudi   Arabia

Waldorf Astoria Jeddah Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

10:45 P.M. AST

THE PRESIDENT: I know it’s late, but thank you for being here. I had a good series of meetings. I just finished more than two hours of meetings with Saudi leadership here in Jeddah, meeting with the King for about a little over half an hour, a working session with the Crown Prince and all the ministers from the — from the energy minister to the sports minister, all the way down the line. And got the chance to talk to basically the entire Saudi government.

And thanks to many months of quiet diplomacy by the staff, we’ve accomplished some significant business today.

First, as you saw this morning, the Saudis will open their airspace to all civilian carriers. That is a big deal. A big deal. Not only substan- — not only symbolically, but substantively, it’s a big deal. It means Saudi airspace is now open to flights to and from Israel. This is the first tangible step in the path of what I hope will eventually be a broader normalization of relations.

Second, we concluded a historic deal that — to transform a flashpoint at the heart of the Middle East wars into an area of peace. International peacekeepers, including U.S. troops, will leave Tiran Island in the Red Sea, where they’ve been for over 40 years since the Camp David Accords. Five American soldiers died on this strategically located island in 2020, and it’s important to remember them today.

Now, thanks to the break- — this breakthrough, this island will be open to tourism and economic development while retaining all the necessary security arrangements and — and the present freedom of navigation of all parties, including Israel.

Third, we agreed to work together to deepen and extend the Yemen ceasefire. And you know there’s been — there’s carnage been in Yemen of late. And it’s been in place more than three months, resulting in the most peaceful period in Yemen in seven years.

We further agreed to pursue a diplomatic process to achieve a wider settlement in Yemen. The Saudi — and Saudi leadership also committed to continue to facilitate the delivery of food and humanitarian goods to civilians. In this context, we discussed Saudi Arabia’s security needs to defend the Kingdom, given very real threats from Iran and Iran’s proxies.

Fourth, we concluded several new arrangements to better position our nations for the coming decades. Saudi Arabia will invest in new U.S.-led technology to develop and secure reliable 5G and 6G networks, both here and in the future, in developing countries to coordinate with the Partnership for Global Initiative — the Global Infrastructure and Investment, which I put together at the G7. This new technology solution for 5G, called Open RAN, will outcompete other platforms, including from China.

Saudi Arabia will also partner with us on a far-reaching clean energy initiative focused on green hydrogen, solar, carbon capture, nuclear, and other projects to accel- — to accelerate the world’s clean energy transition and to help the U.S. clean energy industry set global standards.

And fifth, we had a good — we had a good discussion on ensuring global energy security and adequate oil supplies to support global economic growth. And that will begin shortly. And I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen. The Saudis share that urgency, and based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks.

Finally, we discussed human rights and the need for political reform. As always — as I always do, I made clear that the topic was vitally important to me and to the United States.

With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now. And it was exactly — I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly: For an American President to be silent on an issue of human rights, is this consistent with — inconsistent with who we are and who I am? I’ll always stand up for our values.

So that’s a quick summary of tonight’s outcomes.

Tomorrow, with nine leaders from around the region, we’ll have more. One thing we will discuss is the multibillion-dollar commitment of the GCC to invest in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, which I announced at the G7 last month, to help address infrastructure needs of low- and middle-income countries that don’t have the wherewithal to borrow the funds to meet the needs of their people.

And after years of failed efforts, we have now finalized an agreement to connect Iraq’s electric grid to the GCC grids through Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and deepening Iraq’s integration into the region and reducing its dependence on Iran. And it was pointed out to me that remi- — I was reminded by staff at the time, at the meeting, that I tried to do that back when I was — in the early days of my vice presidency. Finally, it’s done — being done.

Tomorrow, I’ll also be laying out an affirmative framework for America’s engagement in the Middle East to build on these important steps going forward.

The bottom line is: This trip is about once again positioning America in this region for the future. We are not going to leave a vacuum in the Middle East for Russia or China to fill. And we’re getting results.

I’ll take a couple of questions now.

Q    What was the Crown Prince’s response to your comments about Khashoggi?

THE PRESIDENT:  He basically said that he — he was not personally responsible for it.  I indicated that he probably [I thought he]* was.  He said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible.  And — and we — and then I went on to talk more about how that dealing with any opposition to the — or criticism of the Saudi administration in other countries was viewed as, to me, a violation of human rights.  There was no (inaudible).

Q Sir, two quick questions, if I may. First, we just heard from Jamal Khashoggi’s wife, who said, “After this visit, the blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.” What do you say to Mrs. Khashoggi?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m sorry she feels that way. I was straightforward back then. I was straightforward today.

What I — this is a meeting not — I didn’t come here to meet with the Crown Prince.  I came here to meet with the GCC and nine nations to deal with the security and — and the needs of the free world, and particularly the United States, and not leave a vacuum here, which was happening as it has in other parts of the world.

Q On gas prices, if I may, you said that we’ll see relief at some point in the not-too-distant future. What is the message to Americans who are looking for that relief now? When should they expect to see a real change in prices, though they’ve already been coming down?

THE PRESIDENT: But there’s been a real change.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s right. They’ve been coming down every single day, to the best of my knowledge.

Q When will we see the impact of this visit?

THE PRESIDENT: I suspect you won’t see that for another couple weeks. And we’ll see more when we see gas stations start to lower their price consistent with what they’re paying for the oil. That’s another issue.

Q Mr. President, do you regret calling the Saudis a “pariah” during your campaign?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t regret anything I said.

Next question.

Q Do you still feel that way though, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: I just answered your question, “Do I regret it?” I don’t regret anything that I said. What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous.

Q Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q You’re coming under a lot of fire for your fist bump with the Crown Prince. Why —

THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.)

Q    I just wanted to give you a chance to respond to that. 

And — but also, how can you be sure that another incident, another murder like Jamal Khashoggi’s won’t happen again?

THE PRESIDENT: Well — God love you. What a silly question. How could I possibly be sure of any of that? I just made it clear if anything occurs like that again, they’ll get that response and much more.

Look, you’ve heard me say before — and when I criticized Xi Jinping for slave labor and what they’re doing in the — in the western mountains of China, and they said I had no right to criticize China. And I said, “Look, I am President of the United States of America. For the United States President to remain silent on a clear violation of human rights is totally inconsistent with who we are, what we are, and what we would do, what we believe.” And so I’m not going to remain silent.

Can I predict anything is going to happen, let alone here, let alone in any other part of the world? No.

But I don’t know why you’re all so surprised the way I react. No one has ever wondered did I mean what I say. The question is I sometimes say all that I mean.

Q    And what —

THE PRESIDENT: That’s the —

Q But what about your response to the despots?

Q Did you manage to —

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q On the issue of climate, Joe Manchin obviously made significant news right now, which appears to be torpedoing what was one of your biggest priorities as it relates to energy and to climate back at home. Your message to those Americans right now who are looking for that relief that would have a wide impact as it affects the climate and energy specifically?

THE PRESIDENT: I am not going away. I’m going to use every power I have as President to continue to fulfill my pledge to move toward dealing with global warming.

Thank you very much.

Q Mr. President, is Joe Manchin negotiating in good faith?

THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t negotiate with Joe Manchin. I have no idea.

END 10:55 P.M. AST

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.

Saudi women are fighting for their freedom – and their hard-won victories are growing

Graduate Associate, Ph.D. Student, University of Arizona

Disclosure statement

Alainna Liloia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Arizona provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

View all partners

• Bahasa Indonesia

Saudi women will soon be allowed to obtain passports and travel without the permission of a male relative.

This new regulation, announced by the government in early August, eases one of the most limiting aspects of the Gulf country’s “ guardianship system ,” which puts men in charge of their female relatives .

Saudi women will also be allowed to register marriages, divorces and births and to receive official family documents without their guardian’s approval, but they must still get permission from male chaperones to marry, leave prison and move out from a domestic abuse shelter .

Social pressure likely means some Saudi women still won’t travel without family permission. Though it became legal for women to drive in 2018, familial disapproval has kept many women off the roads.

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law that sees gender separation and male authority as vital to preserving a moral Islamic society . But women are much more than victims in this patriarchal regime.

As a researcher who studies women’s movements across the Middle East , I have learned that Saudi women – like any large population – are a diverse group with different opinions and experiences. They attend school, work as journalists and airline pilots , scuba dive , meet friends for coffee – and, increasingly, defy the law to expand women’s rights .

The fight for equality

Saudi women’s new freedoms are part of broader reform efforts led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to modernize the conservative Muslim country of 33 million and to alleviate international human rights concerns.

But these legal advances have come coupled with the repression of the Saudi female activists who have pushed to reform the guardianship system . Women fought for decades for the right to drive cars , and before the ban was lifted last year several activists were arrested for very publicly getting behind the wheel. Many remain in prison .

Saudi women have also campaigned to abolish the guardianship system, circulating online petitions with the hashtag #IAmMyOwnGuardian and holding workshops to educate women on guardianship laws. A woman-created app called “Know Your Rights” gives women information on their legal rights.

Saudi women even make the most of laws forbidding gender mixing in public places, I’ve found.

In the private, women-only areas of malls, parks, restaurants, schools and coffee shops, women feel free to express their independence. They remove their abayas – the long black robes all Saudi women must wear – and talk openly, without male oversight.

Some women have even called for more gender-segregated places to give women more breathing room in this patriarchal society.

Women’s education

Saudi women have been attending university since the 1970s , but their educational opportunities have grown markedly over the past 15 years.

A government-funded study abroad program launched in 2005 sends tens of thousands of young Saudi women to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and many other countries each year.

Saudi Arabia’s first women’s college, the Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University , was founded in 2010. With room for about 60,000 undergraduate students – the world’s largest all-women’s campus – the school aims to give female students better access to male-dominated fields like medicine, computer science, management and pharmacology.

In 2015, Saudi women’s undergraduate enrollment rates actually surpassed those of men . Women comprise 52% of all university students in the kingdom, according to the Saudi Ministry of Education .

Working women

Employment rates have not followed these educational trends.

Only 22% of Saudi women worked outside the home in 2016, compared to 78% of the male population, according to the World Bank .

Still, women can – and do – work in nearly all of the same fields as men, with the exception of “dangerous” fields like construction or garbage collection. Since Islamic law permits women to own and manage their own property, ever more Saudi women see employment as the path to financial independence .

There are female Saudi journalists , like Weam Al Dakheel, who in 2016 became the first female TV presenter to host morning news in Saudi Arabia .

There are female Saudi lawyers, like Nasreen Alissa, one of only a few women to run a law firm in Saudi Arabia and the inventor of the “Know Your Rights” app.

And just over half of all teachers in Saudi Arabia are female, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development . Saudi women also make up almost half the kingdom’s retail workers .

The Saudi government has set a goal of a 30% female labor participation rate by 2030 . Though gender-mixing is often prohibited in the workplace , women are a key component of the kingdom’s ongoing “Saudization” efforts to replace non-Saudi workers with a local workforce.

Political engagement

Saudi Arabia began slowly expanding the rights of women after the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks, part of a rebranding effort to counter negative views of the country as a breeding ground for terrorism and religious fundamentalism.

Women have made particular progress in politics in recent years. In a series of firsts, women were appointed as deputy education minister in 2009 , advisers to the king in 2010 and ambassador to the United States in 2019 .

In 2015, Saudi women were given the right to vote and to run in municipal elections. Nearly 1,000 women campaigned for seats on local councils, comprising 14% of the total candidate pool.

Saudi Arabia’s first crop of female candidates struggled to convince voters – just 9% of whom are women – to elect them. Today they hold just 20 of Saudi Arabia’s 2,000 local council seats .

Two prominent women’s rights activists, Loujain Hathloul and Nassima Al-Sadah, were disqualified from running in 2015 for unspecified reasons.

In patriarchal Saudi Arabia, the women elected face significant barriers to performing even the limited duties of their office , which include overseeing garbage collection and issuing building permits. Some must attend council meetings via video conference to avoid being in the same room as men.

These challenges have not stopped Saudi women from working – both within and outside of the political system – to change their country.

“I was never but a good citizen that loved her country, a loving daughter and a hardworking student and a devoted worker,” wrote the Saudi activist Nouf Abdulaziz in a letter posted online after her arrest in June 2018.

Even facing jail, she “wished the best for” Saudi Arabia.

This story is an updated version of an article originally published March 25, 2019.

[ Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day. ]

• Human rights
• Saudi Arabia
• Gender inequality
• Gender identity
• Women's rights
• Muslim patriarchy
• Saudi driving ban
• Saudi women
• Religion and society

Research Fellow

Senior Research Fellow - Women's Health Services

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

Zelensky, on surprise Saudi visit, seeks Arab League support in war

In a surprise appearance at an Arab League meeting in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday delivered an emotional appeal for support from leaders who have voiced only muted criticism of Russia’s invasion and from some, like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who have maintained strong ties to Moscow despite the war.

Zelensky, who has repeatedly used his personal charisma to build global support for Ukraine’s defense and obtain billions of dollars in weapons from the West, sought to make common cause with countries that have experienced their own years of violent strife as he pleaded for stronger condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

“Look at how much suffering the long-term wars have brought to Libya, Syria, Yemen; how many lives have been wasted by years of fighting in Sudan and Somalia, in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Zelensky said, speaking in English. “Everyone who adds to suffering by his new aggressions, everyone who sows enmity, everyone who wants to bring back the old days of invading … every aggressor … will be cursed by the people.”

“I greet everyone who is ready to join us on the path to justice,” he said.

Ukraine’s Zelensky to join Biden and other G-7 leaders in Hiroshima

As he does in many of his public speeches, Zelensky carefully tailored his message to his audience, mentioning most countries by name and appealing to both Muslim unity and anti-imperialism. In particular, he returned repeatedly to the plight of Ukraine’s Crimean Tatar population, which he described as “the center of Muslim culture in Ukraine.”

GET CAUGHT UP Summarized stories to quickly stay informed

How Florida’s abortion law is affecting East Coast abortion clinics

In France, two young politicians are in a bitter fight over the future of Europe

Schools that never needed AC are now overheating. Fixes will cost billions.

World Central Kitchen draws criticism for its neutrality in Gaza

A Black rising star lost his elite orchestra job. He won’t go quietly.

“For centuries the Crimean Tatars have been, and should remain, an integral and strong part of the Muslim community of the world, but Crimea was the first to suffer from the Russian occupation, and until now most of those who are subjected to repression in the occupied Crimea are Muslims,” Zelensky said, referring to Russia’s illegal invasion and annexation of the peninsula in 2014.

“I believe that one day your people will come back also to see our Crimea — Ukrainian Crimea free from Russian occupation and humiliation,” he said.

Friday’s Arab League meeting was particularly notable for the return of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was attending for the first time since being suspended from the regional group 12 years ago. Assad was ostracized by many fellow leaders after his violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators triggered a brutal civil war in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

Russia’s Ukraine war builds on tactics it used in Syria, experts say

Assad owes his political survival to Russia, which intervened in the war and carried out brutal bombing campaigns against anti-government forces. Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which is now fighting in Ukraine, was also active in Syria.

So it was striking that Assad, who presided over the flattening of cities in his own country, appeared in the same room as Zelensky, some of whose cities have been practically obliterated by relentless Russian bombing.

Saudi Arabia in particular has maintained strong ties with Russia, particularly over oil production, and has benefited heavily from the West’s search for alternatives to Russian energy sources.

Zelensky, however, noted Saudi Arabia’s assistance in negotiating prisoner exchanges and said he hoped all leaders present would support efforts to free such captives.

Arab embrace of Assad underscores divergence with U.S. over Syria

“We can expand this experience,” he said, “and even if there are people here at the summit who have a different view of the war on our land, calling it a conflict, I think we can all be united in saving people from the cages of Russian prisons.”

“Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here among you who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations,” he continued, “and I am here so that everyone can take an honest look no matter how hard the Russians try to influence.”

Zelensky emphasized Ukraine’s other ties to Arab nations. He cited tourists from Persian Gulf states who visited Ukraine before the war and the “education of tens of thousands of Arab students in our universities every year.” He also noted Ukraine’s role as an agricultural supplier in providing wheat to the region, notably to countries such as Lebanon and Egypt that were directly threatened by Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea until a deal was implemented last year.

Most of the countries represented at the summit voted in favor of U.N. resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the U.N. Charter, which calls for respect of each nation’s territorial sovereignty. But many Arab nations have generally displayed ambivalence to the plight of Ukraine.

Multiple leaders in attendance at the summit spoke out against foreign involvement in their own region — including, with perhaps the least credibility, Assad. “Today is an historic opportunity to rearrange our affairs with the least amount of foreign interference,” he said.

Zelensky, clearly aiming to stir empathy, made repeated references in his speech to anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism in an unequivocal moral appeal to the region’s leaders and their own histories.

“Anyone who defends his native land from invaders, and anyone who defends children of his nation from enslavement — every such warrior is on the path of justice, and I am proud to represent such warriors,” he said.

“I am more than sure that none of you will agree to surrender a third of your country to the invaders,” Zelensky said. Then, referring to the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Putin on war crimes charges, he added: “I am more than sure that none of you would watch without a fight how foreigners steal the children of your people. Hundreds of thousands of our children are deported to Russia, separated from their relatives.”

What to know about Ukraine’s counteroffensive

The latest: The Ukrainian military has launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces , opening a crucial phase in the war aimed at restoring Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and preserving Western support in its fight against Moscow.

The fight: Ukrainian troops have intensified their attacks on the front line in the southeast region, according to multiple individuals in the country’s armed forces, in a significant push toward Russian-occupied territory.

The front line: The Washington Post has mapped out the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces .

How you can help: Here are ways those in the United States can support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.

Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war . Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video .

• My View My View
• Following Following
• Saved Saved

US, Saudis close to deal on defense pact, White House says

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu and Mike Stone; Editing by Franklin Paul, Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

World Chevron

Four years after George Floyd killing, police reform slow to follow

Momentum has waned and legislative efforts have stalled, leaving communities, advocates, and families frustrated.

• White House

Read President Trump’s Full Saudi Arabia Speech

President Donald Trump urged Muslims to combat a “crisis of Islamic extremism” and terrorism during a speech in Saudi Arabia Sunday during his first foreign trip as president.

Trump, who spoke to Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, appeared to shift his tone from past remarks on Muslims . Trump had previously blamed Muslims for the rise of extremist groups. But in his speech Sunday, Trump recognized the difference between “barbaric criminals” and “decent people” in Islam.

“Drive them out,” said Trump of extremists. “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land, and drive them out of the earth.”

Read Trump’s full remarks in the transcript below:

Thank you. I would like to thank King Salman for his extraordinary words, and the magnificent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting today’s summit. I am honored to be received by such gracious hosts. I have always heard about the splendor of your country and the kindness of your citizens, but words do not do justice to the grandeur of this remarkable place and the incredible hospitality you have shown us from the moment we arrived. You also hosted me in the treasured home of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of the kingdom who united your great people. Working alongside of another beloved leader, American President Franklin Roosevelt, King Abdul Aziz began the enduring partnership between our two countries. King Salman, your father would be very, very proud to see that you are continuing his legacy. And just as he opened the first chapter of our partnership, today we begin a new chapter that will bring lasting benefits to all of our citizens. Let me now also extend my deep and heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of the distinguished heads of state who made this journey here today. You greatly honor us with your presence and I send the warmest regards from my country to yours. Thank you. I know that our time together will bring many blessings to both your people and to mine. I stand before you as a representative of the American people to deliver a message of friendship and hope and love. That is why I chose to make my first foreign visit a trip to the heart of the Muslim world, to the nation that serves as custodian of the two holiest sites in the Islamic faith. In my inaugural address to the American people, I pledged to strengthen America’s oldest friendships and to build new partnerships in pursuit of peace. I also promised that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit of cooperation and trust. Our vision is one of peace, security, and prosperity in this region and all throughout the world. Our goal is a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism and providing our children a hopeful future that does honor to god. And so this historic and unprecedented gathering of leaders, unique in the history of nations, is a symbol to the world of our shared resolved (sic), and our military that will protect the safety of our people and enhance the security of (inaudible) and made record investments in our military that will protect the safety of our people and enhance the security of our wonderful friends and allies, many of whom are here (inaudible) — closer bonds of friendship, security, culture and commerce. For Americans, this is a very exciting time. A new spirit of optimism is sweeping our country. In just a few months, we have created almost a million new jobs, added over $3 trillion in new value, lifted the burdens on American industry, and made record investments in our military that will protect the safety of our people and enhance the security of our wonderful friends and allies, many of whom are here today. Now there is even more blessed news that I am pleased to share with you. My meetings with King Salman, the crown prince, and the deputy crown prince, have been filled with great warmth, good will, and tremendous cooperation. Yesterday, we signed historic agreements with the kingdom that will invest almost $400 billion in our two countries and create many hundreds of thousands of jobs in America and Saudi Arabia. This landmark agreement includes the announcement of a $110 billion Saudi-funded defense purchase. And we will be sure to help our Saudi friends to get a good deal from our great American defense companies, the greatest anywhere in the world. This agreement will help the Saudi military to take a far greater role in security and operations having to do with security. We’ve also started discussions with many of the countries present today on strengthening partnerships and forming new ones to advance security and stability across the Middle East and far beyond. Later today, we will make history again with the opening of the new global center for combating extremist ideology located right here in the central part of the Islamic world. This ground-breaking new center represents a clear declaration that Muslim-majority countries must take the lead in combating radicalization, and I want to express our gratitude to King Salman for his strong demonstration and his absolutely incredible and powerful leadership. I have had the pleasure of welcoming several of the leaders present today to the White House, and I look forward to working with all of you. America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture. We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values to pursue a better future (inaudible). Here at this summit, we will discuss (inaudible). But above all, we must be united in pursuing the one goal that transcends every other consideration. That goal is to meet history’s great test, to conquer extremism and vanquish the forces terrorism brings with it every single time. Young Muslim boys and girls should be able to grow up free from fear, safe from violence, and innocent of hatred. When young Muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves, it has to be done and we have to let them do it. With God’s help, this summit will mark the beginning of the end for those who practice terror and spread its vile creed. At the same time, we pray this special gathering may someday be remembered as the beginning of peace in the Middle East and maybe even all over the world. But this future can only be achieved through defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it. Few nations have been spared the violent reach of terrorism. America has suffered repeated barbaric attacks from the atrocities of September 11 to the devastation of the Boston bombings to the horrible killings in San Bernardino and Orlando. The nations of Europe have also endured unspeakable horror. So too have the nations of Africa and South America. India, Russia, China, and Australia have all been victims. But in sheer numbers, the deadliest toll has been exacted on the innocent people of Arab, Muslim, and Middle Eastern nations. They have borne the brunt of the killings and the worst of destruction in this wave of fanatical violence. Some estimates hold that more than 95 percent of the victims of terrorism are themselves Muslim. We now face a humanitarian and security disaster in this region that is spreading across the planet. It is a tragedy of epic proportions. No description of the suffering and depravity can begin to capture its full measure. The (inaudible) of ISIS, if you look at what’s happening, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others must be counted not only in the number of dead; it also must be counted in generations of vanished dreams. The Middle East is rich with natural beauty, vibrant cultures, and massive amounts of historic treasures. It should increasingly become one of the great global centers of commerce and opportunity. This region should not be a place from which refugees flee but to which newcomers flock. Saudi Arabia is home to the holiest sites in one of the world’s great faiths. Each year millions of Muslims come from around the world to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Hajj. In addition to ancient wonders, this country is also home to modern ones, including soaring achievements in architecture. Egypt was a thriving center of learning and achievement thousands of years before other parts of the world. The wonders of Giza (ph), Luxor, and Alexandria are proud monuments to that ancient heritage. All over the world people dream of walking through the ruins of Petra in Jordan. Iraq was the cradle of civilization and is a land of natural beauty. And the United Arab Emirates has reached incredible heights with glass and steel, and turned earth and water into spectacular works of art. The entire region is at the center of the key shipping lanes of the Suez Canal, the Red Se, and the Straits (sic) of Hormuz. The potential of this region has never, ever been greater. Sixty-five percent of its population is under the age of 30. Like all young men and women, they seek great futures to build, great national projects to join, and a place for their families to call home. But this untapped potential, this tremendous cause of optimism, is held at bay by bloodshed and terror. There can be no coexistence with this violence. There can be no tolerating it, no accepting it, no excusing it, and no ignoring it. Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith. Terrorists do not worship God; they worship death. If we do not act against this organized terror, then we know what will happen and what will be the end result. Terrorism’s devastation of life will continue to spread, peaceful societies will become engulfed by violence, and the futures of many generations will be sadly squandered. If we do not stand in uniform condemnation of this killing, then not only will we be judged by our people, not only will we be judged by history, but we will be judged by God. This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people, all in the name of religion. People that want to protect life and want to protect their religion. This is a battle between good and evil. When we see the scenes of destruction in the wake of terror, we see no signs that those murdered were Jewish or Christian, Shia or Sunni. When we look upon the strains (sic) of innocent blood soaked into the ancient ground, we cannot see the faith or sect or tribe of the victims. We see only that they were children of God whose deaths are an insult to all that is holy. But we can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong, and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden. Terrorism has spread all across the world, but the path to peace begins right here on this ancient soil in this sacred land. America is prepared to stand with you in pursuit of shared interests and common security, but the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them. The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their country, and frankly for their families, for their children. It’s a choice between two futures, and it is a choice America cannot make for you. A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out. Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land. And drive them out of this earth. For our part, America is committed to adjusting our strategies to meet evolving threats and new facts. We will discard those strategies that have not worked and will apply new approaches, informed by experience, talent, and judgment. We are adopting a principled realism rooted in common values, shared interests, and common sense. Our friends will never question our support and our enemies will never doubt our determination. Our partnerships will advance security through stability, not through radical disruption. We will make decisions based on real world outcomes, not inflexible ideology. We will be guided by the lessons of experience, not the confines of rigid thinking. And wherever possible, we will seek gradual reforms, not sudden intervention. We must seek partners, not perfection. And to make allies of all who share our goals. Above all, America seeks peace, not war. Muslim nations must be willing to take on the burden if we are going to defeat terrorism and send its wicked ideology into oblivion. The first task in this joint effort is for your nations to deny all territory to the foot soldiers of evil. Every country in the region has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil. Many are already making significant contributions to regional security. Jordanian pilots are crucial partners against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and a regional coalition have taken strong action against Houthi militants in Yemen. The Lebanese army is hunting ISIS operatives who try to infiltrate their territory. Emirati troops are supporting our Afghan partners and supporting them strongly. In Mosul, American troops are supporting Kurds, Sunnis and Shias fighting together for their homeland. Qatar, which hosts the U.S. Central Command, is a crucial strategic partner. Our long- standing partnership with Kuwait and Bahrain continue to enhance security in the region. Our courageous Afghan soldiers are making tremendous sacrifices in the fight against the Taliban and others in the fight for their country. As we deny terrorist organizations control of territory and populations, we must also strip them of their access to funds. We must cut off the financial channels that let ISIS sell oil, let extremists pay their fighters, and help terrorists smuggle their reinforcements. I am proud to announce that the nations here today will be signing an agreement to prevent the financing of terrorism called the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center, co-chaired by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and joined by every member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is another historic step in a day that will be long remembered. I also applaud the Gulf Cooperation Council for blocking funders from using their countries as a financial base for terror and for designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, which they certainly are, last year. Saudi Arabia also joined us this week in placing sanctions on one of the most senior leaders of Hezbollah. Of course, there is still much work to be done. That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds. We must stop what they’re doing to inspire, because they do nothing to inspire but kill. And we are having a very profound effect if you look at what’s happened recently. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians. Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear — barbarism will deliver you no glory. Piety to evil will bring you no dignity. If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and your soul will be fully condemned. And political leaders must speak out to affirm the same idea. Heroes don’t kill innocents; they save them. Many nations here today have taken important steps to raise up that message. Saudi Arabia’s vision for 2030 is an important and encouraging statement of tolerance, respect, empowering women, and economic development. The United Arab Emirates has also engaged in the battle for the hearts and souls, and with the United States launched a center to counter the online spread of hate. Bahrain too is working to undermine recruitment and radicalism. I also applaud Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon for their role in hosting refugees. The surge of migrants and refugees living, and just living so poorly, that they’re forced to leave the Middle East depletes the human capital needed to build stable societies and economies. Instead of depriving this region of so much human potential, Middle Eastern countries can give young people hope for a brighter future in their home nations and regions. That means promoting the aspirations and dreams of all citizens who seek a better life, including women, children, and the followers of all faiths. Numerous Arab and Islamic scholars have eloquently argued that protecting equality strengthens Arab and Muslim communities. For many centuries, the Middle East has been home to Christians, Muslims, and Jews living side by side. We must practice tolerance and respect for each other once again, and make this region a place where every man and woman, no matter their faith or ethnicity, can enjoy a life of dignity and hope. In that spirit, after concluding my visit in a fabulous place that we’re at today, Riyadh, which I’ve gotten to know so well in so short a time, I will travel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then to the Vatican, visiting many of the holiest places in the three Abrahamic faiths. If these three faiths can join together in cooperation, then peace in this world is possible, including peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I will be meeting with both Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas. Starving terrorists of their territory, of their funding, and the false allure of the craven ideology will be the basis for easily defeating them. But no discussion of stamping out this threat would be complete without mentioning the government that gives terrorists all three — safe harbor, financial backing, and the social standing needed for recruitment. It is a regime that is responsible for so much instability in that region. I am speaking, of course, of Iran. From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds arms and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region. For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror. It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room. Among Iran’s most tragic and destabilizing interventions, you’ve seen it in Syria. Bolstered by Iran, Assad has committed unspeakable crimes, and the United States has taken firm action in response to the use of banned chemical weapons by the Assad regime, launching 59 missiles at the Syrian air base from where that murderous attack originated. Responsible nations must work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria, eradicate ISIS, and restore stability to the region and as quickly as possible. The Iranian regime’s longest suffering victims are its own people. Iran has a rich history and culture, but the people of Iran have endured hardship and despair under their leader’s reckless pursuit of conflict and terror. Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate it, deny it, funding for terrorism, cannot do it, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve. The decisions we make will affect countless lives. King Salman, I thank you for the creation of this great moment in history and for your massive investments in America and its industries and its jobs. I also thank you for investing in the future of this part of the world, the fertile region — and it is so fertile — has all of the ingredients for extraordinary success: A rich history and culture, a young and vibrant people, a thriving spirit of enterprise. You can only unlock this future if the citizens of the Middle East are freed from extremism, terror, and violence. We in this room are the leaders of our peoples. They look to us for answers and for action. And when we look back at their faces, behind every pair of eyes is a soul that yearns for justice and yearns for peace. Today, billions of faces are now looking at us, waiting for us to act on the great question of our time. Will we be indifferent in the presence of evil? Will we protect our citizens from its violent ideology? Will we let its venom spread through our societies? Will we let it destroy the most holy sites on earth? If we do not confront this deadly terror, we know what the future will bring — more suffering, more death, and more despair. But if we act, if we leave this magnificent room unified and determined to do what it takes to destroy the terror that threatens the world, then there is no limit to the great future our citizens will have. The birthplace of civilization is waiting to begin a new renaissance. Just imagine what tomorrow could bring, glorious wonders of science, art, medicine, and commerce to inspire mankind. Great cities built on the ruins of shattered towns. New jobs and industries that will lift up millions and millions of people. Parents who no longer worry for their children, their families, and who no longer mourn for their loved ones. And the faithful who finally worship without fear. These are the blessings of prosperity and peace. These are the desires that burn with a righteous flame in every single human heart. And these are the just demands of our beloved people. I ask you to join me, to join together, to work together, and to fight together, because united we will not fail. We cannot fail. Nobody, absolutely nobody, can beat us. Thank you. God bless you, God bless your countries, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• Javier Milei’s Radical Plan to Transform Argentina
• The New Face of Doctor Who
• How Private Donors Shape Birth-Control Choices
• What Happens if Trump Is Convicted ? Your Questions, Answered
• The Deadly Digital Frontiers at the Border
• Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
• The 31 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2024
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

Donald Trump Slurs Through Speech: Watch

W hat did he just say? During a recent speech, Donald Trump couldn't string a sentence together when he said, “We’re a nation that just recently heard that Saudi Arabia and Russia will re-feh-ur ah [sic]." (Yes, that is really what happened.)

The caption added, "It’s getting ugly, folks. Trump’s mental decline is no joke."

Of course, people were floored to hear the gaffe . One person wrote, "WTH?! Is this real? Geezus!!" while another said, "Quite sure this mastermind will end the Russia-Ukraine war in a matter of minutes, so sharp, and astonishing intelligent 🤔."

A third person added, "WOW! How can you deny he's gone?"

While speaking about Russia and Saudi Arabia, Stephen Colbert couldn't help but poke fun at the situation.

“Not entirely sure what’s going on there. But apparently he can’t even say the word Russia without climaxing,” Colbert said before imitating Trump.

Colbert then aired another clip of Trump, 77, from the same speech, saying: “Can we be energy independent? Can we be energy dominant again? Oh, yes. Oh yes and quickly, says President Trump. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And quickly.”

“Is he giving his speech or reading a book to toddlers?” Colbert asked. “‘Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Said President Trump with golden hair and a mushy rump. All the words that I can manage because of all of my brain damage.”

As OK! previously reported, Trump was bashed for not being able to pronounce "Venezuela" while speaking in North Carolina — something Colbert also took a chance at making fun of.

“Yes, the nation of Venezuereunbelievable. located just north of Whereaguay, and Perwho?” Colbert quipped. “Trump’s speeches weren’t all demented word slurry. He also did the completely normal thing of describing a graph that no one can see.”

Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin sounded off on the ex-president's recent mix-ups, stating that he's become less "sharp" since he was first elected.

“You saw Donald Trump firsthand when he was, albeit four years or several years younger, at least. How much does he miss or mix up facts and the like?” CNN’s John Berman asked the TV personality.

“I have said this before, he is not as sharp as he was in 2016 and not even as sharp as he was in 2020,” Griffin replied, adding that Trump “is not the strongest fighter that Republicans could have right now" and it's "remarkable how much voters don't see [his] age as also an issue because he is only 3.5 years younger than President Joe Biden ."

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

Trump and Biden's ages have both been a cause of concern ahead of the 2024 election, but the former believes he's capable of being the leader of the U.S. for a second time.

Educate your inbox

Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.

Jonathan Lemire and Julie Pace, Associated Press Jonathan Lemire and Julie Pace, Associated Press

Leave your feedback

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-delivers-speech-arab-muslim-leaders-summit

WATCH: Trump delivers speech at Arab and Muslim leaders’ summit

Watch President Donald Trump’s speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump on Sunday implored Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries to extinguish “Islamic extremism” emanating from the region, describing a “battle between good and evil” rather than a clash between the West and Islam.

In a pointed departure from his predecessor, Trump all but promised he would not publicly admonish Mideast rulers for human rights violations and oppressive reigns.

“We are not here to lecture — we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship,” Trump said, speaking in an ornate room in the Saudi capital. “Instead, we are here to offer partnership — based on shared interests and values — to pursue a better future for us all.”

The president’s address was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first overseas trip since his January swearing-in. For Trump, the trip is a reprieve from the crush of controversies that have marred his young presidency and an attempt to reset his relationship with a region and a religion he fiercely criticized a candidate.

During the 2016 U.S. campaign, Trump mused about his belief that “Islam hates us.” But on Sunday, standing before dozens of regional leaders, he said Islam was “one of the world’s great faiths.”

While running for the job he now holds, Trump heartily criticized President Barack Obama for not using the term “radical Islamic extremism” and said that refusal indicated that Obama did not understand America’s enemy. In his Saudi speech, Trump condemned “Islamic extremism,” ”Islamists,” and “Islamic terror,” but not once uttered the precise phrase he pressed Obama on.

Trump made no mention of the disputed travel ban, signed days after he took office, that temporarily banned immigration to the U.S. from seven majority Muslim countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. Both the original order and a second directive that dropped Iraq from the banned list have been blocked by the courts.

In some ways, Trump delivered a conventional speech for an American politician. He pledged deeper ties with the Middle East to tackle terrorism and encouraged more economic development in the region. He heralded the ambitions of the region’s youth and warned that the scourge of extremism could tarnish their future.

Trump offered few indications of whether he planned to shift U.S. policy to better fight terrorism. There were no promises of new financial investment or announcements of increased U.S. military presence in the region. The president put much of the onus for combating extremists on Mideast leaders: “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities.”

White House officials said they considered Trump’s address to be a counterweight to Obama’s debut speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in Cairo. Obama called for understanding and acknowledged some of America’s missteps in the region. His speech was denounced by many Republicans and criticized by a number of America’s Middle East allies as being a sort of apology.

Trump’s remarks came in a meeting with dozens of regional leaders who gathered in Riyadh for a summit with Trump and Saudi King Salman.

The king has lavished praise and all the trappings of a royal welcome on the new American president, welcoming in particular Trump’s pledge to be tougher on Iran than Obama was. Indeed, Trump and Salman were in lockstep on the threat Iran poses to the region when they addressed their fellow leaders: Trump accused Iran of “destruction and chaos” and the king said its rival “has been the spearhead of global terrorism.”

The Saudis’ warm embrace was welcome change for the besieged White House. Officials spent the days before Trump’s departure dealing with a steady stream of revelations about the federal investigation into his campaign’s possible ties to Russia and the fallout from his firing of FBI Director James Comey.

The president, who is known to tear asunder the White House’s plans with a provocative tweet or offhand comment, has largely stuck to the script for opening days of the trip. Apart from Sunday’s address, he’s made no substantial remarks, other than exchanging pleasantries with other leaders.

Before the speech, Trump held individual meetings with leaders of several nations, including Egypt and Qatar.

His meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi underscored their burgeoning kinship. Trump praised el-Sissi for the April release of Egyptian-American charity worker Aya Hijazi, detained in the country for nearly three years.

El-Sissi invited Trump to visit him in Egypt, adding, “You are a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible.” As the participants laughed, Trump responded: “I agree.”

The president then complimented el-Sissi’s choice of footwear: “Love your shoes. Boy, those shoes” after their brief remarks to the media.

From Saudi Arabia, Trump was scheduled to visit Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He’ll also go to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Francis, to Brussels for a NATO summit and to Sicily for a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven major industrial nations.

This report was written by Jonathan Lemire and Julie Pace of the Associated Press. Associated Press writers Vivian Salama, Ken Thomas and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.

Support Provided By: Learn more

As damning impeachment news piles up, will Republicans stick by Trump?

Trump complained Kurds didn't help U.S. during World War II

Full Kellyanne: 'We have an unserious Congress' on finding immigration solutions

Full Panel: Paper trail 'should not be disqualifying' for Supreme Court pick

Trudeau on Trump tariffs: ‘Insulting and unacceptable’ that Canada seen as threat to U.S.

Harvey: 95% Of The City Is Dry, Houston Mayor Says

Washington Post Report on Kushner Overshadows Trump’s End of First Foreign Trip

Pres. Trump Criticizes NATO Allies on Defense Spending in Brussels Speech

Awkward Moments From Trump's First NATO Summit

Trump Appears to Push Aside Montenegro’s PM at NATO Summit

Trump Slams NATO Allies: 23 of 28 Nations ‘Still Not Paying’ Fair Share

I Won’t Forget What You Said, Pres. Trump Tells Pope Francis

Pope To First Lady: 'What Do You Give [Trump] To Eat?'

Trump Further Addresses Manchester Terror Attack: ‘We Will Win this Fight’

President Trump meets Pope Francis at Vatican

Trump, First Lady Arrive in Rome for Third Leg of Overseas Trip

President Trump and First Lady Melania Depart Israel

Trump Pays Respects at Israel’s Holocaust Memorial and Museum

As Pres. Trump Pushes for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Jerusalem a Symbol

Pres. Trump Experiences the Challenges of MidEast Peace First Hand

Full video: president trump's speech from saudi arabia.

Watch President Trump’s full remarks to Muslim leaders at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. May 21, 2017

Best of NBC News

NBC News Channel

American reunited with family after escaping jail sentence in turks and caicos.

NBC News NOW

Video shows florida officer rescue people trapped in burning car.

Biden administration concerned over Russia-North Korea alliance

Remains of Indiana man missing since 1993 identified

Sean Kingston arrested after his Florida home was raided

French president delays voting reform amid deadly unrest

New 9/11 Evidence Points to Deep Saudi Complicity

Two decades of U.S. policy appear to be rooted in a mistaken understanding of what happened that day.

Listen to this article

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

F or more than two decades , through two wars and domestic upheaval, the idea that al-Qaeda acted alone on 9/11 has been the basis of U.S. policy. A blue-ribbon commission concluded that Osama bin Laden had pioneered a new kind of terrorist group—combining superior technological know-how, extensive resources, and a worldwide network so well coordinated that it could carry out operations of unprecedented magnitude. This vanguard of jihad, it seemed, was the first nonstate actor that rivaled nation-states in the damage it could wreak.

That assessment now appears wrong. And if our understanding of what transpired on 9/11 turns out to have been flawed, then the costly policies that the United States has pursued for the past quarter century have been rooted in a false premise.

The global War on Terror was based on a mistake.

A new filing in a lawsuit brought by the families of 9/11 victims against the government of Saudi Arabia alleges that al-Qaeda had significant, indeed decisive, state support for its attacks. Officials of the Saudi government, the plaintiffs’ attorneys contend, formed and operated a network inside the United States that provided crucial assistance to the first cohort of 9/11 hijackers to enter the country.

The 71-page document , released in redacted form earlier this month, summarizes what the plaintiffs say they’ve learned through the evidence obtained in discovery and recently declassified materials. They allege that Saudi officials—most notably Fahad al-Thumairy, an imam at a Los Angeles mosque and an accredited diplomat at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in that city, and Omar al-Bayoumi, who masqueraded as a graduate student but was identified by the FBI as an intelligence operative—were not rogue operators but rather the front end of a conspiracy that included the Saudi embassy in Washington and senior government officials in Riyadh.

The plaintiffs argue that Thumairy and Bayoumi organized safe reception, transportation, and housing for hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, beginning upon their arrival in California on January 15, 2000. (Both Thumairy and Bayoumi have denied aiding the plot. Bayoumi, along with Saudi Arabia, has also denied that he had any involvement with its intelligence operations.) The filing further argues that Thumairy and Bayoumi introduced the pair to local sympathizers in Los Angeles and San Diego who catered to their day-to-day needs, including help with immigration matters, digital and phone communications, and receiving funds from al-Qaeda by wire transfer. Saudi officials also helped the two al-Qaeda operatives—both Saudi nationals with little education or command of English, whose experience abroad consisted mostly of training and fighting for jihadist causes—to procure a car as well as driver’s licenses. This support network was crucial.

Garrett M. Graff: After 9/11, the U.S. got almost everything wrong

The filing, responding to a Saudi motion to dismiss the case, which is currently before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, makes extensive reference to FBI investigative reports, memos, communications records, and contemporaneous evidentiary materials that are still under seal but are likely to be made public in the coming weeks. One of us—Steven Simon—has been a plaintiffs’ expert in the case, enlisted to review and provide an independent assessment of the evidence. Some of the claims in the filing appear to be corroborated by a document , prepared by the FBI in July 2021 and titled “Connections to the Attacks of September 11, 2001,” as well as by other documents declassified under President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14040 . The materials produced thus far in the case deal mainly with Saudi support provided to these two California-based al-Qaeda operatives, and their fellow hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon. Assuming that the case—now seven years old—goes forward, the presiding judge could order a further, broader discovery phase probing possible Saudi support for the other hijackers, most of whom came to the East Coast beginning in mid-2000.

The materials that have already surfaced, however, document the extent of the complicity of Saudi officials. The 9/11 Commission Report recounted numerous contacts between Bayoumi and Thumairy, but described only “circumstantial evidence” of Thumairy as a contact for the two hijackers and stated that it didn’t know whether Bayoumi’s first encounter with the operatives occurred “by chance or design.” But the evidence assembled in the ongoing lawsuit suggests that the actions Thumairy and Bayoumi took to support the hijackers were actually deliberate, sustained, and carefully coordinated with other Saudi officials.

In addition to the documents showing financial and logistical support, the evidence includes several videotapes seized by the U.K. during raids of Bayoumi’s properties there when he was arrested in Birmingham in September 2001. One video—a more complete version of a tape reviewed by the 9/11 Commission—shows Mihdhar and Hazmi at a welcome party arranged by Bayoumi after they moved to San Diego. The full video, the filing claims, shows that the party was organized by Bayoumi and Thumairy “to introduce the hijackers to a carefully curated group of likeminded community members and religious leaders.” The U.K. police also found, according to the filing, a notepad on which Bayoumi had sketched “a drawing of a plane, alongside a calculation used to discern the distance at which a target on the ground will be visible from a certain altitude.”

Another seized video contains footage of Bayoumi in Washington, D.C., where he met with Saudi religious officials posted as diplomats at the embassy and visited the U.S. Capitol. In the video, according to the filing, Bayoumi “carefully films and notes the Capitol’s structural features, entrances, and security posts,” addressing his narration to his “esteemed brothers.” The Capitol was the likely fourth target of the 9/11 attacks, the one that was spared when passengers aboard United Flight 93 wrestled with the hijackers and the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

If Thumairy and Bayoumi were the front end of the support network for the hijackers, their control officers in the U.S. would have been in Washington at the Saudi embassy. In the pre-9/11 years, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs had a sizable presence in the embassy, as well as at the consulate in Los Angeles. The ministry’s representatives oversaw the many Saudi imams like Thumairy in Saudi-supported mosques in the U.S., and posted Saudi “propagators” to Muslim communities in the United States. The Islamic Affairs offices and personnel appeared to operate according to different procedures than the other units within the embassy. And the support network for the hijackers had powerful backing in the Saudi capital. The FBI found evidence that when the Saudi consul general in Los Angeles sought to fire a member of the support network, who had been storing jihadist literature at the consulate, Thumairy was able to use his influence to save his job. As the new filing also documents, there was extensive phone traffic between Thumairy, Bayoumi, and the embassy during crucial moments when the hijackers needed and received support.

The plaintiffs’ claims are contested by lawyers representing Saudi Arabia on a range of technical, jurisdictional, and factual grounds. They deny that Saudi officials directed support to the hijackers or were otherwise complicit in the attacks. Thumairy “did not assist the hijackers at all,” the lawyers have said, and his alleged actions would not have fallen within the scope of his official responsibilities. Bayoumi’s assistance was “minimal” and unrelated to terrorist activity, the lawyers argue, and neither he nor Thumairy belonged to a jihadist network. Some of the disputes are less about facts than about interpretation. The Capitol video, in the Saudi view, is nothing more than a typical home movie by an enthusiastic tourist; the San Diego video of Bayoumi’s party in the hijackers’ apartment is said to depict a gathering of mosque-goers for some purpose unrelated to the presence of two newly arrived al-Qaeda terrorists. If the court denies the Saudi motion to dismiss in the coming months, we will know whose view of the evidence has been the more persuasive.

A fter 9/11 , President George W. Bush and his team argued that a nonstate actor like al-Qaeda could not have pulled off the attacks alone, and that some country must have been behind it all. That state, they insisted, was Iraq—and the United States invaded Iraq. In a savage irony, they may have been right after all about state support, but flat wrong about the state. Should we now invade Saudi Arabia?

The answer is no. The Saudi Arabia of 2001 no longer exists. The country is still capable of criminal action; witness the case of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, victim in 2018 of a team of Saudi murderers in Istanbul. But the Islamic extremism that coursed through central institutions of the Saudi state appears to have been largely exorcised. Few countries in the world have been so consistently misunderstood by the U.S. as Saudi Arabia, though, so that judgment is necessarily a provisional one.

To understand why, a little history is necessary. At the time al-Qaeda emerged as full-fledged terrorist organization, in the 1990s, the country’s religious establishment wielded tremendous power, controlling the judiciary; the Ministry of Islamic Affairs; an array of large institutions such as the al-Haramain Foundation, the Muslim World League (MWL) and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY); and other well-funded NGOs. The power of the religious establishment was rooted in the compact at the heart of the Saudi state: The legitimacy of the ruling family has been bound up with the Wahhabi clergy since Muhammad ibn Saud, the patriarch of the royal family, and the religious reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab joined in an alliance in 1744 that would conquer the Arabian Peninsula.

From the April 2022 issue: Absolute power

The MWL, WAMY, and other religious charities were established for the purpose of dawa , or spreading the faith. The Wahhabi clerical establishment had strict notions of how Saudi society should be regulated and believed that it would be best for Muslims worldwide to be subject to Wahhabi rules, but they were not predisposed to declare war to propagate Wahhabism. The pact the Wahhabi clerics formed relegated matters of statecraft to the house of Saud. It was a system that worked, until it didn’t.

Change came because of the counterinsurgency that the Egyptian government waged against the radical Islamists who had assassinated President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981. That campaign augmented an existing effort to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood, which continues today. Many who escaped the wrath of the Egyptian government fled to Saudi Arabia, flooding into the religious universities and teaching positions, or obtaining jobs in the religious bureaucracy. The result was a new ideological framework that meshed Wahhabi doctrine together with Muslim Brotherhood activism. The hunger for jihad among young Saudis was stoked by the thrilling stories of the war in Afghanistan against the Soviets told by fathers and uncles returning from their “jihad jollies,” as Western officials referred to these expeditions—which mostly took place far behind the front lines of that conflict.

As a concession to the clergy’s demands and the realities of the new environment, the monarchy authorized the creation of a religious-affairs ministry. But the youthful radicals soon had access to both the ministry’s gigantic budget, which mixed public and private money in a helter-skelter way, and an apparatus that could deploy ministry personnel abroad under diplomatic cover, including to the United States.

Thus, from the mid-1990s, the ministry was staffed and run by a growing number of people who shared with Osama bin Laden the view that the world was gripped by a cosmic struggle between believers and infidels. In short, they saw the United States as the leader of “world infidelity,” and believed that true Muslims had a duty to fight the infidels. Complementing those beliefs was the distinctive additional bit of jihadist dogma—of which bin Laden became the greatest proponent—holding that restoring the realm of Islam to its historic greatness required striking the United States on its own territory. Only through violence could the U.S. be forced to end its support for the apostate regimes that plagued the Muslim world. And only once the props were kicked out from under those regimes—Egypt, Syria, and Iraq—could truly Islamic governments take charge. That was the idea behind 9/11 and the campaign that was supposed to follow.

The United States, in the 1990s and after, was aware of some activities of the Saudi religious establishment, especially, for example, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, where fighters—including the future hijackers Mihdhar and Hazmi, to name just two—were supported through Saudi charities. The picture became more ominous as the decade progressed as such charities, including al-Haramain, were implicated in the East Africa embassy bombings, which killed 224 people, injured nearly 5,000, and destroyed U.S. diplomatic posts in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. As staff members working on counterterrorism on the National Security Council staff, we watched a succession of our colleagues from the White House and the State Department visit Riyadh to ask for better policing of these “charities.” Routinely, they came back with nothing to show for their efforts, while other weighty issues on the U.S.-Saudi bilateral agenda—containing Iran, achieving Middle East peace, lowering energy prices—ensured that Riyadh never felt any serious pressure.

Why there wasn’t much more of a response from the monarchy won’t be fully understood until the royal archives are opened, assuming that internal discussions were even recorded. But it does seem, in general, that the house of Saud ruled but did not govern; governance was typically for commoners. Without inquiring closely into the day-to-day operations of the religious and foreign-affairs ministries, the royals could not have had a clear idea of what was being done in their name, including the deployment of Saudis with diplomatic visas for the purpose of attacking the kingdom’s strongest, most reliable transactional partner.

Astonishingly, the attacks of 9/11 had little effect on the Saudi approach to religious extremism, as diplomats and intelligence officials have attested. What finally changed royal minds was the experience of suffering an attack on Saudi soil. In May 2003, gunmen and suicide bombers struck three residential compounds in Riyadh, killing 39 people. The authorities attributed the attacks to al-Qaeda, and cooperation with the U.S. improved quickly and dramatically. Mohammed bin Nayef, son of one of the country’s most powerful princes and its interior minister, emerged as the national counterterrorism chief and later interior minister. MBN, as he is known, transformed Saudi intelligence into America’s most valuable foreign partner in the fight against terrorism, providing tips that led to later plots being thwarted. MBN himself became a friend to a succession of CIA directors.

When King Abdullah died, in 2015, his half brother Salman bin Abdulaziz succeeded him, and MBN was made crown prince. Two years later, however, Salman removed MBN, stripped him of his ministry and other offices, and installed his own son Mohammed bin Salman. MBN was soon detained and subjected to execrable conditions , and disappeared from public view.

Mohammed bin Salman (widely known as MBS), now the country’s de facto ruler, may have seen MBN as a rival, but he certainly shared his opposition to extremism. During his time in power, the influence of the Wahhabi establishment appears to have been drastically curtailed. The country’s notorious religious police have largely disappeared from sight, and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has been reformed, along with the massive Islamic organizations. In 2018, Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, the new head of the Muslim World League, visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—a development that for his predecessors would have been utterly unthinkable.

There will be plenty of tension and recriminations if the exhibits in the New York case become public and the case progresses. Should the plaintiffs overcome the Saudi motion to dismiss, an extended period of merits discovery and a potential trial on liability for 9/11 will exacerbate matters. But many years after the attacks, it seems likely that judicial determination—not military action—is the most viable means by which to close the books on 9/11.

R evelations from the legal case are also likely to set off another round of self-flagellation over the failures of America’s law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. The 9/11 Commission Report and other accounts—including our own —showed the FBI to be shamefully asleep at the switch before the attacks. Indeed, some 9/11 Commission investigators thought the report went soft on the FBI to prevent morale from collapsing entirely. In light of the new revelations, we can expect renewed criticism. How could the bureau have been so ignorant of what the staff of a foreign embassy were doing under its nose? Counterintelligence, after all, is a core bureau responsibility. And the FBI’s conduct on this case is inexplicable. Curiously, agents continued investigating until at least 2021 and, to judge by the 2021 document, knew about the Saudis’ indispensable support for the hijackers. But their work was shut down by the Justice Department. There will be lots of questions to answer.

Ben Rhodes: The 9/11 era is over

If the criticism over these missteps is sharp, it will pale—or at least it should—next to how we reevaluate the global War on Terror, which defined American life and international affairs for some 20 years. The spectacle of 9/11 suggested that there was a new breed of super-terrorists, and the coordination, tradecraft, and sophistication behind the attack on the Twin Towers made that contention persuasive. It would have been foolhardy after that enormity not to expect more catastrophic attacks, and no one could say with any certainty how large al-Qaeda was or how capable it might be. Bin Laden had sought to galvanize the angry masses of the Muslim world in support of his movement. Approving reactions to 9/11, indicating that many Muslims around the world thought the U.S. had finally gotten what it deserved, led policy makers to believe that there was a reservoir of individuals who might be radicalized and line up behind al-Qaeda.

And there were. But the question was whether these Muslims in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America could be marshaled into a force capable of inflicting grievous harm on the U.S. homeland. In the aftermath of the attacks, U.S. law enforcement at all levels turned to deal with the newly revealed terrorist threat. The FBI and local authorities showed up at Saudi-backed mosques around the country, hundreds of Muslim men were detained for immigration violations or under material-witness laws, and the Saudi support network went to ground. Washington secured the country’s borders following the attacks and, building on already-existing no-fly lists, made travel to the U.S. by would-be terrorists exceedingly difficult.

The next big attack never materialized. Indeed, al-Qaeda’s record after 2001 was a fizzle—a fact that has puzzled experts. Most years brought no more terrorist deaths in the U.S. than the pre-2001 period had, and some saw fewer. Al-Qaeda managed to organize no attacks against the American homeland for 18 years after 9/11. The deadly Islamist attacks of this period—including the Boston Marathon attack in 2013, the San Bernardino shootings in 2015, and the Pulse club massacre in Orlando in 2016—were the work of Muslims inspired by the jihadist terrorists but who had no notable contact with bin Laden’s organization. In December 2019, a Saudi air cadet killed three people in a shooting at the Navy’s Pensacola Air Station, an attack that was the first—and to date only—since 9/11 in which investigators traced a line back to al-Qaeda.

Abroad, terrorist strikes in Bali, Madrid, Paris, and London killed in the double and low triple digits—attacks on a scale the world was largely accustomed to, even if several of the attacks came tightly bunched. But there was nothing remotely like 9/11. In the U.S., the near-miss of the “underwear bomber,” a young man who tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit in December 2009 with a bomb in his briefs, prompted the Washington bureaucracy to further tighten screening procedures. American and foreign intelligence and law-enforcement agencies disrupted terrorist cells around the world. After the obliviousness that preceded 9/11, America demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to act decisively and effectively.

But above all else, without a support network in the U.S. that could provide cash and documents, facilitate travel, and secure lodging, large-scale terrorist attacks by foreign groups became nearly impossible.

Al-Qaeda did not exactly shrivel and die, but as many of its most capable operatives, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an architect of 9/11, were captured, the group became much less dangerous, and jihad against the U.S. lost some of its appeal. The eventual consequence was what became known as the “relocalization of jihad,” a return to settling scores against leaders and governments principally in Muslim parts of the world. In North Africa, al-Qaeda affiliates kidnapped foreigners and killed government forces. In places as diverse as Yemen and Southeast Asia, like-minded groups fought the local regimes and murdered civilians. Former imperial powers of Europe, situated close to the Middle East and North Africa, also faced, by virtue of their colonial histories, a continued threat of radicalization embedded within their own society.

From the March 2015 issue: What ISIS really wants

The most dramatic instance of this relocalization occurred in Iraq, where America’s removal of Saddam Hussein lifted the lid on the antipathies among the Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish communities. As the U.S. dismantled the Iraqi army and much of the Iraqi state, these sectarian and ethnic groups turned against one another in pursuit of an elusive security. War is the great incubator of extremism, and out of the civil conflict that the U.S. triggered emerged a jihadist entity that dwarfed al-Qaeda in its geographic and ideological reach. The Islamic State was the brainchild of extremists who understood that Sunni fury at the loss of their privileges in the new Shia-dominated Iraq could burn far hotter than the implausible global jihad of Osama bin Laden. Indeed, just as al-Qaeda seemed to be collapsing in 2014, ISIS conquered nearly half of Iraq. The turmoil of civil war in neighboring Syria gave ISIS a haven that grew to cover a third of that country as well. The Islamic State’s achievement in holding territory—something al-Qaeda never managed—attracted recruits from throughout the Arab world and Europe who yearned to create their vision of a truly Islamic polity. ISIS, an unwanted child of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, came closest to achieving the mass mobilization that U.S. policy makers feared after 9/11. But in the end, the group’s threat to the region’s states and its external terrorist operations galvanized a broad coalition of countries that crushed it. The U.S. contributed a great deal militarily to the effort, but at home, the only hint of a threat came from fearmongering in the media.

W hat would we have done differently if our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies had learned shortly after the 9/11 attacks that officials of our close friend Saudi Arabia had given regular, reliable, and essential support to terrorists seeking to kill Americans in large numbers?

We would, at a minimum, have immediately compelled Riyadh to dismantle the jihadi infrastructure within its institutions and to liquidate what was left of it on our soil and in countries around the world. We likely would still have toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan and tried to destroy what was left of al-Qaeda there. But if we had understood that the attacks of 9/11 had depended on state support—and if we had eliminated that state support—we might well have had the confidence to leave Afghanistan quickly, instead of lingering for 20 years. As additional attacks failed to materialize, we would also have been more prepared to rely on strong border controls and intelligence to keep us safe. Of course, the discovery of Saudi involvement in 9/11 would have thrown a massive roadblock in front of the George W. Bush administration’s rush to topple Saddam Hussein, although perhaps nothing could have restrained a heedless president from that course of action. But perhaps we would have felt secure enough to close the detention camp at Guantánamo, which has been a permanent demonstration of our disregard for the rule of law. And perhaps as well, we would not have subordinated almost all our other foreign-policy goals to our counterterrorism efforts—a practice that undermined American efforts to support democracy and human rights abroad.

Today, for most Americans, the global War on Terror has become a hazy memory from the time before Donald Trump. In Washington, policy makers avoid discussing the subject. Yet it bears remembering: It cost us $6 trillion, and that number is expected to go higher because of the long-term health-care costs for veterans. It turned the Middle East upside down, increasing the regional influence of Iran. More than 7,000 American servicemen and women died in action; 30,000 more, an extraordinary number, died by suicide. In all, more than 800,000 Iraqis, Afghans, and others, most of them civilians, perished in the war.

The War on Terror and its origins in 9/11 are seen in retrospect as farce and tragedy. But the emerging picture of the preparations for 9/11 make recognizing the sheer scale of the blunder inescapable.

• Share full article

For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS app available for news subscribers.

• May 24, 2024   •   25:18 Whales Have an Alphabet
• May 23, 2024   •   34:24 I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders
• May 22, 2024   •   23:20 Biden’s Open War on Hidden Fees
• May 21, 2024   •   24:14 The Crypto Comeback
• May 20, 2024   •   31:51 Was the 401(k) a Mistake?
• May 19, 2024   •   33:23 The Sunday Read: ‘Why Did This Guy Put a Song About Me on Spotify?’
• May 17, 2024   •   51:10 The Campus Protesters Explain Themselves
• May 16, 2024   •   30:47 The Make-or-Break Testimony of Michael Cohen
• May 15, 2024   •   27:03 The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System
• May 14, 2024   •   35:20 Voters Want Change. In Our Poll, They See It in Trump.
• May 13, 2024   •   27:46 How Biden Adopted Trump’s Trade War With China
• May 10, 2024   •   27:42 Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand

I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders

The move sets up a possible showdown between the international court and israel with its biggest ally, the united states..

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring Patrick Kingsley

Produced by Will Reid ,  Diana Nguyen and Shannon M. Lin

Edited by Liz O. Baylen and Michael Benoist

Original music by Elisheba Ittoop

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

This week, Karim Khan, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Patrick Kingsley, the Times’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, explains why this may set up a possible showdown between the court and Israel with its biggest ally, the United States.

On today’s episode

Patrick Kingsley , the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading

Why did a prosecutor go public with the arrest warrant requests ?

The warrant request appeared to shore up domestic support for Mr. Netanyahu.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Patrick Kingsley is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. More about Patrick Kingsley

Advertisement