Israel and Saudi Arabia are "close" to a "historic peace", welcomed Friday, September 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the podium of the UN, judging that the Palestinians did not have the right of "veto" on Israeli-Arab relations.
Recalling the normalization in 2020 of relations with three Arab countries that he described as "the dawn of a new era," he said that "we are close to an even more spectacular breakthrough, a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, nicknamed MBS, had also recently assured, in an interview with the American television Fox News, that the Sunni monarchy and the Jewish state were "getting closer every day" to a normalization of their relations.
"Such a peace would do much to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, it would encourage other Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel, it would increase the possibilities of peace with the Palestinians," Netanyahu said Friday.
But "I believe we should not give the Palestinians a veto on new peace treaties with Arab states," he insisted. "The Palestinians could greatly benefit from a broader peace. They must be part of this process."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday from the same rostrum that there would be no peace in the Near and Middle East without taking into account the "legitimate rights" of his people, that is, the implementation of a two-state solution.
The Israeli prime minister also attacked his bête noire, the Iranian regime.
"Above all, Iran must face a nuclear threat. As long as I am prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he said.
With AFP
The summary of the weekFrance 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app