Saudi FM says ties with ‘Israel’ would bring ‘tremendous benefit’ to region

Riyadh (QNN)- Normalization with ‘Israel’ would bring “tremendous benefit” to the region, the Saudi foreign minister has said, but such an accord with the kingdom would depend on progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said during an interview with CNN on Thursday that any deal with Saudi Arabia was “very much dependent on progress with the peace process.”

He noted that normalization had been on the table since the introduction of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the condition of reaching 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.”

When asked about the potential for Israeli Muslims performing pilgrimage to Makkah, Prince Faisal said that would also depend on progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“We haven’t agreed to it, but, as I said, if we have progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, then we would, hopefully, welcome Israeli citizens of all faiths to the Kingdom, not just Muslims,” he said.

The UAE was the first country to agree to normalize ties with the occupation state under the Abraham Accords, a pact brokered by the United States, a move that was followed by Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

In February, 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.

Before holding Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “four more peace agreements” on the way, but he gave no further information.

“I brought four peace agreements,” Netanyahu said in an interview.

“There are another four on the way. I talked about one of them yesterday.”

Netanyahu did not name the countries, but later the same day Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Radio 100FM that the countries nearest to signing deals were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Niger.

Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, said lately that his country has not moved with regard to its position on normalizing ties with the occupation state, despite diplomatic deals by its close allies and neighbours.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, 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.”