Rolando Fransiscus Sihombing – detikNews
Thursday, 19 Sep 2024
Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (Getty Images)
Jakarta -Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said the kingdom would not establish relations with Israel until a Palestinian state was established, in a blow to U.S. efforts for a normalization deal.
“We renew the kingdom’s strong rejection and condemnation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying by AFP , Thursday (19/9/2024).
“The kingdom will not stop its tireless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without a Palestinian state,” he added.
The normalization deals brokered by then-US president Donald Trump in 2020 between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates ended a long-standing Arab consensus that there should be no normalization without an independent Palestinian state and put the spotlight on their more powerful neighbor, Saudi Arabia.
As recently as earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had held out the prospect of rapidly establishing ties with Gulf Arab oil kingpins as a potential benefit for Israel from a ceasefire deal and hostage release for Gaza.
Blinken had said during a visit to Haiti on September 6 that he still hoped to lock in a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia before US President Joe Biden leaves office in January.
“I think if we can get a ceasefire in Gaza, there is still a chance through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalization,” the top US diplomat said.
The United States has prepared a security package to offer Saudi Arabia if it normalizes ties with Israel, Blinken said earlier this year, as it seeks incentives for Israel to support a Palestinian state.
As part of any deal, Riyadh is expected to insist on a path to statehood for the Palestinians as well as alliance-style security guarantees from Washington.
“To move forward with normalization, two things are needed — calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood,” Blinken told a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.
But Israel’s right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, remains fiercely opposed to a Palestinian state. The high civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza and the extensive damage caused to the Palestinian territories have put immense pressure on the kingdom to refrain from any major diplomatic overtures.
(rfs/rfs)
Categories: Arab World, Gaza, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, War, War crimes