Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced today that his country will not follow the UAE’s example in normalizing relations with Israel, as long as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains unresolved. The minister did not comment directly on the agreement to normalize relations between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, but he praised every step that stops the Israeli annexation plan of the Palestinian territories.
The Saudi minister said - at a press conference in Berlin - that the Kingdom is committed to the Arab initiative as the only way to reach a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to normalize relations between Israel and all Arab countries. The Saudi minister explained that the Arab Peace Initiative - which all Arab countries signed in 2002 - included a complete vision for establishing relations between Israel and all Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, noting that the conditions included in the initiative were not met, stressing that establishing relations with Israel would be Possible if checked.
The Arab Peace Initiative includes provisions preventing the normalization of relations with Israel, as long as Tel Aviv is not committed to restoring Palestinian rights on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions.
#Berlin | #Minister of Foreign Affairs: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms its commitment to peace as a strategic choice and is based on Arab peace initiatives and international legitimacy decisions pic.twitter.com/LgezSe8G3Z
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇦 (@KSAMOFA) August 19, 2020
Last Monday, Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the US President, urged Saudi Arabia to normalize its relations with Israel, believing that this step would benefit the kingdom's economy and defense, and would contribute to reducing Iran's power in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was working to operate direct flights linking Tel Aviv with Dubai and Abu Dhabi via Saudi airspace.
Normalization of the UAE
The Saudi minister did not directly comment on the announcement of the UAE and Israel last Wednesday that they agreed to fully normalize their relations, but Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that “any efforts that promote peace in the region and lead to the suspension of the annexation plan can be viewed positively.”
Under the normalization agreement with the UAE, Israel pledged to suspend its plan to annex land in the West Bank, but the Israeli Prime Minister stressed that his government would not abandon plans to annex the Jordan Valley and settlements throughout the occupied West Bank.
The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz (84 years), has affirmed numerous times that Saudi Arabia will not support any peace plan in the Middle East that does not address the status of Jerusalem or the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
Saudi officials have repeatedly denied that there is any difference between King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told an American magazine in April that Israelis have the right to live in peace on their land.