Without a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia will refuse to normalize relations with Israel

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal ben Farhane here in Egypt, September 6, 2022. AP - Amr Nabil

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Saudi Arabia will not normalize its relations with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the foreign minister of the powerful Gulf monarchy said on Friday (January 20th), amid calls from the foot of the Hebrew state.

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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday discussed the possibility, alluding to Saudi Arabia, of “ 

 ” the Abraham Accords, which formalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

" 

," said Faisal bin Farhane, the head of Saudi diplomacy, in a video posted on Twitter on Friday.

📹 |

سمو #وزير_الخارجية @FaisalbinFarhan: التطبيع والاستقرار الحقيقي لن يأتي إلا بإعطاء الفلسطينيين الأمل من خلال منحهم الكرامة وهذا يتطلب منحهم دولة #المملكة_في_دافوس 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/hQl2Cqr24o

— وزارة الخارجية 🇸🇦 (@KSAMOFA) January 19, 2023

The world's largest crude oil exporter and largest Arab economy, the Gulf kingdom is a very close partner of the United States, but has always refused to normalize ties with Israel due to state occupation and colonization. Hebrew from the Palestinian territories.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories since 1967 and continues its Jewish settlement policy, denounced by the UN, NGOs and the international community, including the Jewish state's closest partners. 

Riyadh is now reaffirming its historic line, a position often associated with the old King Salman and one wonders how long it will last when his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, succeeds him.

Let us recall that Saudi Arabia, two decades ago, put on the table the proposal for the simultaneous normalization of all the countries of the Arab League with Israel, in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

An "Arab Peace Initiative" largely tarnished by the

which do not include any progress towards a Palestinian state.

► To read also: 

Respect for Palestinian rights, a

sine qua non

The White House said Thursday that Jake Sullivan had expressed Washington's opposition to anything that would call into question " 

 " of a future Palestinian state.

Riyadh did not object to the Abraham Accords signed under the aegis of Washington at the end of 2020 by Israel and several Arab countries, including some in the Gulf close to Saudi Arabia, such as Bahrain and the

.

But the kingdom has repeated, on several occasions, that it makes respect for the rights of the Palestinians a

condition for signing such an agreement with the Israelis, even if Saudi Arabia and Israel maintain a thinly veiled security cooperation in the face of to a common enemy: Iran.

Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, believes that normalization with Saudi Arabia would facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, although the good relations with the United Arab Emirates have

of an evolution of the peace process.

(

AFP)

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• Saudi Arabia

• Israel

• United States

• Palestinian territories

• Israelo-Palestinian conflict

• Binyamin Netanyahu

• Diplomacy

• Mohammad bin Salman