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Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has disagreed on whether Saudi Arabia will follow in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to establish relations with Israel. Although Prince Mohammed bin Salman is interested in formalizing relations with Israel, King Salman is in his previous position on Israel.
Saudi King Salman has long supported Arab countries boycotting Israel and the Palestinians’ demand for an independent state. But his successor, Prince Mohammed, wants to do business with Israel and build strong alliances with Iran in the region.
King Salman, 74, was “stunned” when President Trump announced a compromise agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on August 13. However, Yuvraj Mohammad was not surprised by Trump’s announcement. The agreement reached between the two countries of the Arab world to establish relations with Israel highlights the differences between the Saudi king and prince.
However, analysts say it would have been difficult for the neighboring emirate to move forward if the king of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy, had not backed a peace deal with Israel. And his successor, Prince Mohammed, helped the emirate reach a peace treaty with Israel.
After the peace treaty, King Salman instructed his foreign minister to restore Saudi Arabia’s firm position on the establishment of a Palestinian state. In a statement published in a Saudi-owned newspaper, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a high-ranking member of the Saudi royal family, said that in order to normalize Israel’s relations with Saudi Arabia, Palestine must be declared a sovereign state with Jerusalem. as your capital.
“Saudi Arabia has set a price to establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Arab world,” he said. That is, following in the footsteps of former King Abdullah, declaring Jerusalem the capital and forming a sovereign Palestinian state.
Recent tensions within the Saudi regime indicate that the country’s position on regional conflicts may change faster than expected.
Now is Israel’s time: Saudi Arabia and Israel have been in close informal contact for nearly 30 years on various issues, especially security issues related to Iran. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has taken a narrow path, pursuing two opposite goals: maintaining an alliance with the United States (especially against Iran), as well as long-term support for the Palestinians. Saudi officials have sometimes been seen secretly promoting one position and another in public. Saudi Arabia is even involved in completely conflictive activities.
According to Saudi analysts and US officials, King Abdul Aziz, son of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, saw Israel’s triumph in the Arab world during his lifetime and aroused sympathy for the Palestinians.
Palestinian ambassador Bassem al-Aga said that during his tenure as governor of the Saudi capital before ascending to the throne, King Abdul Aziz often referred to himself as “Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh.” For decades, King Abdul Aziz has provided billions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians, as well as personal ties to most of their leaders. Although Egypt and Jordan have already signed peace accords with Israel, all Arab states were in favor of Palestine before the UAE-Bahrain agreement this summer.
Yuvraj needs to support the Trump administration: “When President Trump came to power in 2016, King Salman sent him a message saying that he believed in Israel’s right to exist, as well as in the right of Palestinians to have their own state,” said the former United States ambassador. States Joseph Westfal.
During his first trip abroad in May, Saudi Arabia allowed President Trump to travel from Riyadh to Tel Aviv. Such a decision indicates that the new US administration will work towards a Palestinian state, in line with Saudi Arabia’s expectations. However, King Salman was soon disappointed.
After Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, arrived in the region to discuss Trump’s Middle East peace plan with Saudi Arabia, he spoke of a deal that denies the Palestinian capital, East Jerusalem. During a phone call in September, King Salman told President Trump of his desire to solve the Palestinian problem.
A short report on the conversation, published in Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, said by phone that it had referred to an initiative backed by Saudi Arabia before 2002, which promised normal relations with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state.
The Trump administration’s diplomacy in the Middle East: The Trump administration is keen to bring more Arab countries into the US-Israel deal ahead of the US presidential election in November. According to a source, Yuvraj told a meeting in Niome on September 1 that the king would never agree to a compromise agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The prince told Kushner at the time that the best Saudi Arabia could do now was try to persuade Bahrain to sign a peace agreement with Israel. When asked whether Saudi Arabia had allowed Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel, a Bahraini government spokesman said: “The country is committed to working with all its strategic partners to achieve regional justice and lasting peace.”
Location of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia: From the beginning, the Saudi prince has vowed to root out religious extremism and promote a more tolerant view of Islam. He has always aimed for harmony with other religions, including Judaism. In 2016, he said that Israelis had the right to live on their own land.
Saudi and Western political analysts say the Saudi prince knows what the risks of formal relations with Israel could be. This would expose Saudi Arabia to serious regional criticism. Saudi Arabia will be in the regional spotlight not only for abandoning the Palestinians, but also for accepting Israel’s decision to take full control of Jerusalem and allow access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. .
Randall, a former American diplomat, served in Saudi Arabia for 15 years. According to him, the Saudi prince will pressure other countries, especially Sudan and Morocco, where Saudi influence exists, before reaching a formal agreement with Israel. The Wall Street Journal
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