US Senator Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies, reportedly spent the last few weeks of his life working on an effort to help Saudi Arabia and Israel establish diplomatic ties before he died on Saturday.
The 71-year-old, who had once openly criticised Trump before becoming one of the president’s strongest supporters, died late on Saturday due to a heart condition linked to hardened arteries, his office announced on Sunday.
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Inside Graham’s push for Saudi-Israel peace before death
The South Carolina senator was seen as one of the biggest voices on US foreign policy, and remained focused on some of his biggest diplomatic goals until the very end.
Graham viewed Saudi-Israel ties normalisation as the biggest achievement in a wider post-war plan for West Asia. In recent weeks, Graham told US media outlet Axios that he had spoken about the proposal to normalise Saudi-Israel relations with Trump, along with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. He said they agreed to move forward with the effort together.
He reportedly felt such an agreement could survive long after the conflict with Iran ended and change the region’s future. Graham had reportedly been working on the issue for years, including during former US President Joe Biden’s administration.
Around mid-May, Graham encouraged Trump to make Saudi-Israel normalisation the main part of a broader “day-after” strategy for the conflict. About a week later, during a conference call with leaders of several Arab and Muslim countries, Trump said he wanted them to establish ties with Israel if a deal could be reached to end the war with Iran. Saudi Arabia remained the main focus of that effort.
Graham’s plan for normalisation of ties
The senator wanted to launch an intensive diplomatic campaign after Israel’s October elections and the US midterm elections. The aim was to secure an agreement before the new Congress took office in January.
He also told Axios that he had held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close aide Ron Dermer, Saudi ambassador to Washington Princess Reema bint Bandar and Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
He was also preparing to visit Saudi Arabia and Israel in the coming weeks to determine whether there was enough willingness on both sides to restart negotiations.
Graham reportedly said that if an opportunity emerged, intensive diplomatic work should begin in September so that the main elements of an agreement could be ready by November.
He believed the proposal depended on overcoming two key political hurdles. The first was securing enough support in Congress. The second was having an Israeli government willing to accept Saudi Arabia’s conditions, as per the Axios report. A key part of the proposed agreement was a US-Saudi defence treaty, much of which had already been negotiated during the Biden administration.
‘I can’t die now’: Graham’s final hours of pushing the deal
On Saturday night, in the final hours of his life, Graham spoke to Trump on phone about his recent visit to Ukraine and the Russia sanctions Bill that he wanted the Senate to consider soon. Trump then told him he was preparing fresh strikes against Iran following another attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the report said.
Shortly after the call, a person who spoke with Graham told the publication that the senator said he was not feeling well. The person urged him to get medical help immediately, but Graham replied that he would seek treatment on Sunday morning after his scheduled appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Graham then reportedly joked: “I can’t die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalisation.”
He died a few hours later.
