RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Normalization with Israel would bring “tremendous benefit” to the region, the Saudi foreign minister has said, but such an accord with the kingdom would depend on progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Under the Abraham Accords brokered by former US president Donald Trump last year, four Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — agreed to normalize ties with the Jewish state.
But Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Thursday that any deal with Saudi Arabia was “very much dependent on progress with the peace process.”
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He noted that normalization had been on the table since the introduction of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the condition of reaching resolution with the Palestinians.
“I think normalizing Israel’s status within the region would bring tremendous benefit to the region as a whole,” he said during an interview with CNN.
“It would be extremely helpful both economically but also socially and from a security perspective.”
Normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia ???????? and Israel ???????? will bring tremendous benefits to region as a whole. We must find path to resolve Palestinian conflict. All Israelis will be welcome in the Kingdom. – KSA Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud h/t @IsraelArabic @CNN pic.twitter.com/ORdEnHse4h
— Avi Kaner (@AviKaner) April 2, 2021
But such a process “can only be successful if we address the issue of the Palestinians and if we are able to deliver a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders that gives the Palestinians dignity and gives them their rights.”
Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia has repeatedly affirmed its decades-old policy of not establishing formal ties with Israel until a deal is reached to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.
But mutual concern over Iran has gradually brought Israel and Gulf countries closer, and Riyadh has quietly been building relations with the Jewish state for several years.
Reports in November that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held secret talks in Saudi Arabia with the crown prince fueled speculation that a normalization accord with the Gulf’s top power could be in the making.
Riyadh, however, denied the meeting had taken place.