Jakarta, CNNI Indonesia —
Saudi Arabian reportedly looking for ways to normalize her relationship with Israel which has so far been nothing as a form of solidarity with Palestine.
Rumors of Israeli and Saudi normalization have been heard for some time. However, Riyadh is still reluctant to open a rumor regarding these rumors.
Israel’s i24NEWS news agency reported on Tuesday that the Saudis were working on forging formal relations with Israel, though that would take a long time to materialize.
i24NEWS reported Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Abdel al-Jubeir, even guaranteed that Saudi-Israeli normalization would happen eventually, even though he realized it would take some time.
Abdel said this when he spoke to senior US Jewish leaders recently.
In addition, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) also met in Riyadh with US officials invited by the Washington Institute.
During the meeting, MBS made three main demands that must be met before the Saudis decide to join the Abraham Accord on normalizing relations with Israel.
Reported Jerusalem Postnone of the three Saudi requests concerned Palestinian interests or pressure on Israel regarding its conflict with Ramallah.
Instead, MbS actually made demands centered on strengthening the Saudi-US alliance, supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons that made it appear that Riyadh was a member of NATO.
MbS also sought permission so that Riyadh could have a limited civilian nuclear programme.
If that happens, Saudi Arabia will become the last Arab country to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham deal after the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in September 2020. This is sure to spark criticism and condemnation from the supporters of Palestine.
MbS is even said to have secretly met with Israeli officials, although Riyadh has never confirmed this.
In March, MbS even openly assessed that Israel had the potential to become a Saudi ally.
“For us, we hope the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved,” MBS said in his interview with The Atlantic as quoted AFP extension Friday (4/3).
“We don’t see Israel as an enemy, we see them as a potential ally with many interests that we can pursue together. But we have to solve some problems before we can achieve this,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it will abide by the Arab League’s position of having no formal relations with Israel until the end of the conflict with Palestine.
Unlike his father, King Salman, MBS has a more open and moderate view, including on Saudi-Israeli relations.
In recent years, rumors of Saudi and Israeli intimacy have continued to grow. High-ranking Saudi officials are said to have held several meetings with Israeli officials to explore the potential for normalization.
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