Trump had said he was nearing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that could wind down the war, but Netanyahu left Washington without a deal in hand.
Graham, for his part, lamented how close he believed the region once came to peace.
Graham on Sunday laid out a detailed timeline of what he said had been taking shape behind the scenes, under President Joe Biden’s administration, in the fall of 2023: a U.S.-brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel that could have normalized relations, isolated Iran, and transformed the region.
It would have been a historic agreement. “The biggest change in thousands of years in the region,” Graham said.
And Graham said he had real reason to hope.
“We were oh so close,” Graham said.
According to Graham, on Oct. 6, 2023, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler.
“And she indicated to me that he was never more enthusiastic about landing normalization with Israel than he was that night,” Graham said.
On Oct. 18, 2023, Graham said, there was supposed to be “an announcement of an outline that would allow, over the arc of time, Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel and effectively end the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
But it was not to be.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war. Hamas also abducted 251, some of whom are still held by Hamas as hostages.
In a moment, the fragile hope for regional peace evaporated.
Today it is estimated that Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive. But Graham said he still believes that an agreement is possible.
“We cannot let Oct. 7 define the future of the region. It was an attempt by Iran to stop what I and others had been working on for almost two years,” Graham said.
There were lighter moments, too.
The audience oohed when Graham talked about celebrating his 70th birthday last week with Netanyahu, and he got a few laughs when he said, “I got a cake from our friends in Israel.”