Saudi Arabia sent an official delegation to the West Bank this Tuesday for the first time in more than 30 years to assure the Palestinians that he will defend their cause even if ties with Israel.
The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz, visited Saudi Arabia in parallel this Tuesday, at a time when the United States is actively working for Israel and Riyadh to establish relationsa scenario that would reconfigure geopolitics in the Middle East.
The Saudi Arabian delegation headed by Nayef al Sudairi, appointed ambassador to the Palestinian Territories in August, It is the first that Riyadh sends to the West Bank since the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements in Osloin 1993, which allowed the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
Nayef Al Sudairi is a concurrent ambassador and is based in Amman, the capital of neighboring Jordan. After meeting in Ramallah with the head of Palestinian diplomacy, Riyad al Maliki, Nayef al Sudairi said that “the Palestinian issue is a fundamental pillar” of Saudi foreign policy.
“And it is certain that the Arab (peace) initiative, which was presented by the kingdom in 2002, is a cornerstone of any future agreement,” he told reporters.
And it is certain that the Arab (peace) initiative, which was presented by the kingdom in 2002, is a cornerstone of any future agreement.
In March 2002, Arab League leaders adopted a Saudi plan calling for Israel’s withdrawal from all territories occupied since 1967 in exchange for normalization of relations with Arab countries..
The Israelis have occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan since 1967, which they seized from Syria. “The interest” of the Saudi kingdom in “the Palestinian cause” is long-standing, the ambassador said, but Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who heads the kingdom, “wants the region and the entire world to live in peace and stability.”
Israel currently has relations with several Arab countries after establishing ties in 2020 with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. It also has relations with two neighboring countries, Jordan and Egypt.
The Palestinians, who continue to demand their own state, consider these agreements a betrayal of their cause. At the moment, the oil kingdom does not recognize the State of Israel, created in 1948, and has declared on several occasions that it maintains the historical position of the Arab League: not establish relations with the Israelis until the Palestinian question is resolved.
In recent months, Riyadh has given signs that it could change its position, and has made it known what it wants from the United States in exchange for establishing relations with Israel: security guarantees, and assistance for a civil nuclear program, according to sources close to the negotiations. .
Rapprochement with Israel
Israel normalized relations in 2020 with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Moroccoas part of the so-called Abraham Accords, negotiated by the government of the then American President Donald Trump.
Israel, for its part, has sent delegations to Saudi Arabia in recent months to participate in sporting or cultural events. like the Unesco meeting in Riyadh this month.
Katz’s visit this Tuesday is the first by an Israeli minister. The latter plans to attend a meeting of the World Tourism Organization in Riyadh and wants to take advantage of the occasion to “progress (…) Israel’s foreign relations,” according to a statement from his office.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi will travel to Saudi Arabia next week for an international conference. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on September 22 at the UN forum in New York: “we are close to an even more spectacular breakthrough, a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
“That peace would increase the chances of peace with the Palestinians,” he argued. This Tuesday he assured that “several Middle Eastern countries want peace with Israel.” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas replied that there can be no peace in the Middle East without the Palestinians obtaining their own independent state.
The United States, a regular mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, has also failed to make any substantial progress towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
And the prospect of a two-state solution seems even further removed since Netanyahu’s new government, one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history, took office in December, and as the cycle of violence continues on the ground, due to attacks by Palestinians and Israeli settlers and military operations.
The Saudi crown prince acknowledged the rapprochement with Israel last week, but insisted in an interview with the American network Fox that the Palestinian issue is “very important” for Riyadh.
AFP
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