Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without Palestinian state: Crown Prince
- 18 Sep 2024
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Wednesday said the kingdom would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state and strongly condemned the "crimes of the Israeli occupation" against the Palestinian people.
"We renew the kingdom's rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority against the Palestinian people," the Prince told the opening session of its advisory Shura Council.
"The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the crown prince said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed had said just weeks before the Gaza fighting broke out that Riyadh was getting closer to a deal.
The two sources told Reuters there would be some delay in the US-backed talks on normalisation of Saudi-Israel ties.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed made the remarks at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, which he gave on behalf of his father, King Salman.
The council swore an oath of office before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed on Wednesday before he addressed it.
Normalisation deals brokered by then US president Donald Trump in 2020 between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had ended a longstanding Arab consensus that there should be no normalisation without an independent Palestinian state and thrown the spotlight on their more powerful neighbour Saudi Arabia.
As recently as earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been holding out the prospect of the swift establishment of ties with the Kingdom as a potential dividend for Israel from a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
Blinken had said during a visit to Haiti on September 6 that he still hoped to seal a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia before President Joe Biden steps down in January.
"I think if we can get a ceasefire in Gaza, there remains an opportunity through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalisation," the US top diplomat said.
The United States has readied a security package to offer Saudi Arabia if it normalises relations with Israel, Blinken said earlier this year, as it seeks incentives for Israel to support a Palestinian state.
As part of any deal, Riyadh is expected to insist on a path to statehood for the Palestinians as well as alliance-style security guarantees from Washington.
"In order to move forward with normalisation, two things will be required — calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state," Blinken told a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
