Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday the kingdom could recognize Israel if a comprehensive deal that includes statehood for the Palestinians is reached, an ambitious speech as the war between Israel and Hamas shows no signs of easing.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, (Bloomberg) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
“We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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Asked whether Saudi Arabia would then recognize Israel as part of a broader political agreement, he said: “Absolutely.”
Prince Faisal said securing regional peace through the creation of a Palestinian state was “something we have actually been working on with the US government and it is more relevant in the context of Gaza.”
Signing a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia would be the main win for Israel after it established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and could transform geopolitics in the Middle East.
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The Sunni Muslim kingdom, the Arab world's most powerful country and home to Islam's holiest sites, wields significant religious influence around the world.
After war broke out last October between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, Saudi Arabia has shelved U.S.-backed plans to normalize the kingdom's ties with Israel, two sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking said a rapid reorganization of its diplomatic priorities.
The two sources told Portal there would be some delay in U.S.-backed talks on normalizing Saudi-Israeli relations, seen as an important step for the kingdom to get what it sees as the real prize in return a US defense pact.
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Palestinians
Before Oct. 7, when Iran-backed Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had signaled they were moving steadily toward establishing diplomatic ties that could have transformed the Middle East.
The Palestinians want a state in the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as its capital. U.S.-sponsored negotiations with Israel to achieve this goal stalled more than a decade ago.
Hurdles included Israeli settlement of occupied land and the feud between Western-backed Palestinian authorities and Hamas Islamists who reject coexistence with Israel.
“There is a path to a much better future for the region, for the Palestinians and for Israel, that is peace, and we are fully committed to that,” Prince Faisal said.
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“…a ceasefire on all sides should be a starting point for a lasting, sustainable peace that can only be achieved through justice for the Palestinian people.”
Israel's far-right government has downplayed the prospect of significant concessions to the Palestinians under a possible normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Israel says more than 130 remain captive.
Israel responded to the Hamas attack with a siege, bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that devastated the tiny coastal territory and killed more than 24,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The war has raised fears of greater regional instability. The Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has frequently clashed on the border with Israel, while pro-Iranian militias have attacked US targets in Iraq.
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Attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea and they say they will not stop until Israel stops its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
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