Saudi Arabia criticized White House statements early Wednesday that cited “positive” discussions since the start of the Gaza war toward a possible normalization of relations between the kingdom and Israel.
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In response to the remarks of the “Speaker of the National Security Council of the United States (…), the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Palestinian issue has never changed,” said a statement from Saudi diplomacy.
“There will be no diplomatic relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is recognized within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital” and “aggression” in Gaza continues, the Saudi ministry added.
Responding to a question during a news conference in Washington, spokesman for the US National Security Council, a body under the White House, John Kirby, said of discussions since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 regarding normalizing relations between Saudi- Arabia and the Hebrew state.
“We were in discussions before October 7th with our partners in the region – of course Israel and Saudi Arabia, the two main ones – to try to advance a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. These conversations are going well. We have received positive feedback from both sides,” said Mr Kirby.
Saudi Arabia, leader of the Arab Gulf monarchies and a heavyweight in the Middle East, does not recognize Israel but had begun talks before the war with the United States, its main ally, about possible normalization of relations with Israel.
Since October 7, the Saudi kingdom has made the resumption of talks conditional on a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement on an “irrevocable” path to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The day after his meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia's de facto leader had reiterated his “strong interest” in relations with Israel, but that he was calling it quits for now of the conflict in Gaza and a “timetable” for the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Saudi kingdom, guardian of Islam's first holiest sites, did not abide by the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by the United States, which allowed its neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Morocco, to establish official relations with Israel.