Saudi Arabia’s award for normalizing relations with Israel is the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, a former member of the Saudi royal family confirmed on Friday.
Prince Turki al-Faisal apparently reacted to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday saying he expected Saudi Arabia to join a deal announced last week by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic relations.
The UAE is only the third Arab state in more than 70 years to establish full relations with Israel. Under the US-mediated deal, Israel has temporarily placed plans to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, seeking Palestinians as part of a future state.
The UAE said Israel’s commitment had the potential for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel has so far had no formal ties with Arab states of the Gulf, but shared concerns with the UAE about Iran’s regional influence and actions, together with the UAE’s role as a regional business hub, leading to limited exploration and discrete contacts in recent years.
‘Expensive price’
The deal sparked speculation that other US-backed Arab Gulf countries might follow suit. But Prince Turkey said Saudi Arabia, the largest Gulf Arab power that has a traditional policy toward Israel, expected a higher return from Israel.
“Any Arab state that considers joining the UAE should demand a price in return, and it should be an expensive price,” he wrote in the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has instituted a prize for the conclusion of peace between Israel and the Arabs – it is the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, as provided for by the initiative of the late King Abdullah.”
That 2002 Arab League plan offered Israel normalized ties in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from all areas – the West Bank, Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem – captured during the 1967 Middle East war, and a Palestinian state there.
But Prince Turki also expressed understanding for the UAE’s decision, noting that Riyadh’s close ally had secured an important condition – a halt to Israeli annexation plans.
In the first Saudi response to the UAE-Israel deal, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday Riyadh continued to commit to the Arab peace initiative.
Prince Turki, a former ambassador to Washington and former intelligence officer, does not currently hold a government office, but remains influential as the current chair of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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