‘Israel’ could be a ‘potential ally’, Saudi crown prince says

Riyadh (QNN)- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said ‘Israel’ could be a “potential ally” of Riyadh, in remarks published on Thursday.

“For us, we hope that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is solved,” the prince told US monthly magazine The Atlantic, according to remarks carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“We don’t look at Israel as an enemy, we look to them as a potential ally, with many interests that we can pursue together,” Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler said.

“But we have to solve some issues before we get to that,” he added in a rare interview with foreign media.

Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’, but there have been long-reported initial stages of normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and the occupation state of ‘Israel’, after the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, under the so-called Abraham Accords, a pact brokered by the United States, normalized ties with ‘Israel’ in 2021.

Calling them as a “stab in the back,” Palestinians condemned the normalization agreements, saying they encouraged Israel’s denial of their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.

However, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly clarified its position regarding the normalization with ‘Israel.’

“Riyadh supports full normalization with Israel, but first a permanent and complete peace agreement should be approved that guarantees the Palestinians their state with dignity,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud once said.

In August 2021, during a news conference alongside German FM, he also declared, “Peace must be achieved with the Palestinians on the basis of international agreements as a condition for any normalisation of relations with Israel. Once that is achieved all things are possible.”

He also added, “Any efforts that promote peace in the region, that result in holding back the threat of annexation, could be viewed as positive.”

Prince Faisal bin Farhan also said during an interview with CNN in April 2021 that normalization had been on the table since the introduction of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the condition of reaching a resolution with the Palestinians.

“I think normalizing Israel’s status within the region would bring tremendous benefit to the region as a whole,” he said.

“It would be extremely helpful both economically but also socially and from a security perspective.”

But such a process, he said, “can only be successful if we address the issue of the Palestinians and if we are able to deliver a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders that gives the Palestinians dignity and gives them their rights.”

In February 2021, Prince Faisal told Arab League foreign ministers that Saudi Arabia remained committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state, stood with the Palestinian people and supported all efforts to reach a solution.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, said that the Saudi position has not changed and it still supports the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers normalization in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state.

He said the recent normalization deals by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan were “sovereign decisions,” but if they led to a change in Israeli policies towards Palestinians “then there may be some benefit in it”.

“But as far as the kingdom is concerned, our position remains that normalization can only come if there’s an agreement on peace,” said Jubeir.

“We want a two-state solution based on the Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant United Nations resolutions where we have a Palestinian state and living side by side in peace and security. That remains our position.”