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There are rumors that Saudi Arabia will follow in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to establish relations with Israel.
Analysts say Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s successor, is interested in formalizing relations with the Jewish state, but King Salman bin Abdul Aziz disagrees.
Saudi King Abdul Aziz has long supported the Arab boycott of Israel and the Palestinian demand for an independent state.
Prince Salman wants to do business with Israel and build a strong alliance against Iran in the region, overcoming the conflict with Israel.
According to an analytical report by the Wall Street Journal, the 64-year-old king was stunned but not surprised by President Trump’s August 13 announcement of a compromise agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
If the king of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy, had not backed a peace deal with Israel, it would have been difficult for the neighboring emirate to move forward. Prince Salman is known to have helped the UAE sign a peace agreement 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. And that is following the initiative of the late King Abdullah and declaring Jerusalem as the capital to form a sovereign Palestinian state.
Recent tensions within the Saudi regime indicate that the country’s position on regional conflicts may change faster than expected.
The Trump administration has been pressuring Saudi Arabia, a US ally in the Middle East and Iran’s main rival, to sign a deal with Israel.
“Israel has to wait,” said Euel Guzanski, former director of the Iran and Gulf Department at Israel’s National Security Council. The deal issue has come a long way. Saudi Arabia is in talks with the White House, not Israel, about when and at what price.
The time is now for Israel
David Randall, a retired American diplomat who has worked in Saudi Arabia for a long time, said: “The time is right for Israel. This generation of young people in Saudi Arabia is less sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians than their parents and previous generations. .
“Those who grew up in the two Arab-Israeli wars and the screams of the Palestinians who have touched their hearts since childhood are outraged. They think the emirates have betrayed the Palestinians. But Saudis under 30 don’t really care, “he said.
For nearly 30 years, Saudi Arabia and Israel have had informal contacts 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 Salman bin Abdulaziz, son of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, saw Israel’s victory in the Arab world during his lifetime evoking 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 Aziz often referred to himself as “the Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh.”
For decades, King Aziz has provided billions of dollars in financial aid to the Palestinians, as well as personal relationships with most of their leaders.
Although Egypt and Jordan have already signed peace agreements with Israel, all Arab states were in favor of Palestine prior to the UAE-Bahrain agreement this summer.
Yuvraj needs to support the Trump administration
“When President Trump came to power in 2016, King Aziz 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 toward a Palestinian state in line with Saudi Arabia’s expectations.
However, King Aziz was soon disappointed.
After arriving in the region to discuss Trump’s Middle East peace plan with Saudi President Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, he discussed a deal that denies the Palestinian capital, East Jerusalem.
During a phone call in September, King Salman reiterated his desire to find a solution to 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.
Since taking over the Saudi government in 2016, Prince Salman, 35, has shown an unusual interest in Israel in terms of security and trade.
Saudi officials say Prince Trump has personally pressured Palestinian leaders to adopt such a peace plan. However, the Palestinians denied it, saying it would jeopardize their desire for an independent state.
In October 2016, the Crown Prince announced plans to build a 25,000 square kilometer city, a technology research capital, Neom, in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt adjacent to Israel.
According to Yuvraj’s foreign advisers and diplomats, Salman expected Israel to play a significant role in the potential investment in biotechnology and cybersecurity to build the £ 500 billion high-tech city.
Westphal, the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2017, said: “He sees this as a reality and a necessary measure. The 84-year-old king underwent gallbladder surgery this year. He has been ill for several years. No he’s smart enough to understand all of this and he’s not as involved in diplomacy as he needs to be to control everything, and Prince Salman needs to maintain support for the Trump administration.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is known to have led the investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2016 by the intelligence agencies of several countries, including the United States.
The Saudi prince has not visited the United States or Europe since Khashoggi’s assassination.
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, Prince Salman told a meeting in Newem on September 1 that the king would never accept a compromise agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Yuvraj told Kushner at the time that the only thing 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.”
The foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signed an agreement at the White House on Tuesday. President Trump also attended the event. Trump called the day of the “landmark agreement” the “dawn of a new Middle East.” However, no Saudi delegation was present.
Prince Salman’s location
From the beginning, Prince Salman has vowed to stamp 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 to 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 the world. Islam.
Randall, a former American diplomat, served in Saudi Arabia for 15 years. According to him, Prince Salman will exert pressure on other countries, especially Sudan and Morocco, where there is Saudi influence, before reaching a formal agreement with Israel.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2015 to 2020, said that dozens of private talks with Saudi and Emirati partners, as well as visits by officials, also included a series of social agreements to coordinate activities against Iran.
“It may take longer to fully recognize Israel,” he said.
Many analysts believe that Saudi Arabia will be the last Arab country to reach a formal agreement with Israel.
Yuvraj Salman will play a role in this regard.
Two advisers close to the prince said he wanted to reach an agreement with Israel. But he also knows that as long as the king lives, it is almost impossible.
Yuvraj ordered local media to cover the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
A message sent to the editors of Saudi newspapers ordered the news to be published, calling the agreement “historic and honorable.” The Wall Street Journal received a copy of that message.
A Saudi adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “He (Prince) is checking. He is preparing the people of the country for the changes that will take place in Saudi Arabia after he becomes king.
