The prospect of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel is “out of the question” without the Palestinians receiving an independent state, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told Becky Anderson of CNN in Riyadh.
“Normalization with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not only at risk (for Israel), it is out of the question until we have a resolution for the creation of a Palestinian state,” he said. “I would say more than that, it’s not just the issue of normalization with the kingdom that is at risk, I would say that the security of the region as a whole is at risk if we don’t address the rights of the Palestinians.”
Prince Faisal was reiterating a policy set by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month when he told the country’s Shura Council that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without a Palestinian state.
The Biden administration has made normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia one of its main policy goals for the Middle East. The US and Saudi Arabia have engaged in discussions about the pact in 2023, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to fly to Riyadh on October 10 last year to discuss the details, just three days before Hamas attacked Israel, derailing the effort.
Saudi Arabia and the US were negotiating a potentially historic defense deal last year that was in line with Saudi normalization with Israel.
“There is an element of the bilateral agreements we are working on that is linked to normalization. … The crown prince made it very clear what it would take for the kingdom to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. … In the absence of that, we are quite happy to wait until the situation is mild,” he said.
This content was originally published in Saudi Arabia rules out rapprochement with Israel without creating a Palestinian state on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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