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The rulers of Saudi Arabia have historically been critical of Israel and the way they treat the Palestinians. But are they finally making great strides in recognizing that country, the country that was once called a Zionist power in the Arab media?
Recently, there has been a lot of speculation on social media.
Reason: An interview broadcast on Al-Arabiya TV, given by Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud, a former Saudi intelligence chief who was Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington for a long time.
Prince Bandar has strongly condemned the way in which Palestinian leaders have criticized Arab Gulf states for making peace with Israel recently, in a three-episode interview.
“We do not expect such a low-level debate from officials who want global support for their goals,” Prince Bandar said.
“This exaggeration and condemnation of the Palestinian leaders against the leadership of the Gulf states is absolutely unacceptable.”
When the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, Palestinian leaders called it “dishonesty” and “backstabbing.”
Is the promotion of Prince Bandar’s interview an indication?
Prince Bandar was Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington for 22 consecutive years. He was so close to former President George W. Bush that many called him ‘Bandar bin Bush’.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Prince Bandar highlighted the “historic failure” of the Palestinian leadership, saying that they had always believed that Saudi Arabia would always support them.
In that interview, he said that the Palestinian demands must be justified. But they have not been able to reach a peace agreement in so many years, so both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership must bear the same responsibility.
The Palestinian leadership is now divided. The Palestinian Authority rules the West Bank, while the Islamist movement Hamas controls Gaza.
Prince Bandar, meanwhile, hinted that when Palestinian leaders couldn’t agree among themselves, how would they come to an agreement?
An official close to the Saudi royal family said such statements could never be broadcast on a Saudi state-controlled television channel, unless they were approved in advance by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
They chose Prince Bandar, a veteran diplomat and a staunch supporter of the Saudi royal family, to speak, the official said.
According to him, so far this is the clearest indication that Saudi Arabia will one day make a deal with Israel, and for that they are preparing the people of the country.
Historical doubts
Saudi Arabia approved it “quietly” after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel.
Soon after, Prince Bandar granted this interview.
It may appear that the leadership of Saudi Arabia is moving faster than its people in forging an alliance with Israel.
For many years, especially in remote rural areas of Saudi Arabia, the Saudis were used to viewing Israel as an enemy, not just all Jews.
I remember a Saudi who lived in a mountain village in the Asir province and said to me very seriously: “There is a day in the year when Jews drink the blood of children.”
Due to the internet and satellite television, these conspiracy theories have become very rare in Saudi Arabia. Saudis spend a lot of time online and often know more about world news or events than people in the West.
But while some sections of the Saudi population are suspicious and racist about people in other countries, it will take time for that to change. So maybe Saudi Arabia is in no rush to make a historic deal by following its Gulf neighbors.
Saddam Hussein disaster
The history of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries with the Palestinians is quite intriguing.
The governments of the Gulf states have provided nominal support to the Palestinian question politically and economically for decades.
But when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sided with President Saddam Hussein after Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990, they felt deeply misled.
Then in 1991, when the US-led Operation Desert Storm launched the liberation of Kuwait, Kuwait expelled all Palestinians from the country, replacing them with thousands of Egyptians.
That year I went to Kuwait City. The country has not yet been able to cope with this push. I saw a writing on the wall next to an abandoned pizzeria.
It says: “Al-Quds Da’iman Lil’Sihunin, Wa’ana Kuwaiti”, which means “Jerusalem is the eternal home of the Jews, and I am writing this: a Kuwaiti.”
The older rulers of the region took a long time to overcome Arafat’s “dishonesty.”
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who died last month at the age of 91, played a key role in healing wounds in the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia’s peace plan
However, it can be said that Saudi Arabia has a history of sending a message of peace to Israel. I attended the Arab Summit in Beirut in March 2002.
There I saw a thin, bald gentleman, who in turn was explaining in perfect English something called “Prince Abdullah’s Peace Plan” to various people.
This is Adel Zubair. He is now the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, and later was Foreign Advisor to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
The plan was the main topic of discussion at the conference that year, and the Arab League approved it unanimously.
The main points of that plan were: the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation of all the occupied territories, including the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and Lebanon, and, in return, the full normalization of Israel’s relations with the whole world. Arab. Surrender of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as their capital. And, to reach a just solution to the plight of the Palestinian refugees, who were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war.
This plan received international support. It even put Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the spotlight for some time.
It seemed that the historic Arab-Israeli conflict had a chance to end forever.
But just before the plan was revealed, Hamas bombed an Israeli hotel in the city of Netanya. 30 people died and more than 100 were injured.
There the peace talks ended.
17 years have passed since then. A lot has happened in the Middle East, a lot has changed. But the Palestinians do not yet have an independent state. Israeli settlements are being built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, illegal under international law.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt have all made peace with Israel and maintain full diplomatic relations.
In fact, Israel has a kind of “cold peace” relationship with Jordan and Egypt, but the two Gulf states are rapidly forging an alliance with Israel.
Within days of Bahrain and Israel signing the “Abraham Agreement” at the White House, Israeli intelligence chiefs were visiting Manama, discussing intelligence cooperation with Iran, the two countries’ common rival.
Which side of the wind is Saudi Arabia trying to understand?
What is the attitude of Israeli officials towards normalizing future relations with Saudi Arabia? How do you see the matter?
They must have viewed Prince Bandar’s interview with interest, but did not want to comment directly on it.
But an official at the Israeli embassy in London said: “We hope that many more countries will recognize the new reality in the Middle East and join us in restoring friendship.”
As seen in the past, Saudi Arabia has been very cautious about changing its policy and has been slow to verify it before taking action.
But that tradition has changed a lot since Prince Mohammed bin Salman appeared on stage.
Girls are now driving in the country, public entertainment has begun, and the door to tourism is slowly opening.
Therefore, the peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel may not be “imminent”, but there is no doubt that it is now a “real possibility”.
Source: BBC
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