Saudi Arabia has said that normalisation of ties with neighbouring Israel “is in the interest of the region” but without giving Palestinians “dignity and justice” such a normalisation will have limited benefits.
Normalisation of relations with Israel “is in the interest of the region” and would “bring significant benefits to all,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday.
“But without finding a pathway to peace for the Palestinian people, without addressing that challenge, any normalisation will have limited benefits,” he said.
Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Saudi FM said: “Therefore, I think we should continue to focus on finding a pathway towards a two-state solution, on finding a pathway towards giving the Palestinians dignity and justice.”
“And I think the US has a similar view, that it’s important to continue on those efforts.”
Talks on civilian nuclear cooperation have stalled with Riyadh refusing to agree to limits on nuclear enrichment and reprocessing designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Photo: Reuters
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan says he hopes an agreement could be reached for the United States to aid his country’s bid to generate nuclear power.
READ: Saudi Arabia’s relations with US, China not a ‘zero-sum game’: Riyadh
Blinken raises Palestine with Netanyahu
Blinken meanwhile urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to undermine prospects for a two-state solution, after talks in Saudi Arabia which linked normalisation to peace efforts.
Blinken spoke by telephone with Netanyahu to discuss “deepening Israel’s integration into the Middle East through normalisation with countries in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Blinken “discussed the need to uphold the commitments made at regional meetings in Aqaba and Sharm el Sheikh to avoid measures that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution,” Miller said, referring to talks earlier this year in Jordan and Egypt that brought Israeli, Palestinian and US officials together.
Blinken, in a speech this week before the leading US pro-Israel group, said that he would work to win recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia — a major goal for Israel due to the country’s size and role as guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
Netanyahu, during his last stint in power, won normalisation from the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain in what both he and the then US administration of Donald Trump saw as crowning achievements.
The longest-serving Israeli premier has returned to power leading the country’s most far-right government ever with supporters adamantly opposed to a Palestinian country.
Blinken was the second top US official to visit Saudi Arabia in less than a month, following a May 7 trip by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi analyst specialising in Gulf-Israel ties, said Riyadh would not budge on normalisation for reasons including Israel’s hardline far-right government and displeasure with US President Joe Biden’s administration.
“This is not the American administration that Saudis would want to gift a Saudi-Israeli normalisation to,” Alghashian said.
“It’s going to be a massive achievement, it’s going to be under an American umbrella, and they don’t want the Biden administration to take any credit for that,” he said.
Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and opposes normalisation until Tel Aviv ends the decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories. Photo: Reuters Archive
“We’d like to see normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, we think it’s hugely important, and we’re working with Israel to obtain that,” says US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides.
READ: US says it’s working to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel
Source: TRT World. 9 June 2023