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Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel upon creation of Palestinian state
GTV English
11 January, 2024 15:44
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar said that Saudi Arabia still believed in establishing ties with Israel but can’t live with Israel without a Palestinian state.
In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme the envoy said, ” [A deal] was close, there is no question. For us, the final end point definitely included nothing less than an independent state of Palestine. So, while we still – going forward after 7 October – believe in normalisation, it does not come at the cost of the Palestinian people.”
He added: “We were close to normalisation, therefore close to a Palestinian state. One doesn’t come without the other. The sequencing, how it is managed, that is what was being discussed.”
The ambassador also warned that there was a “failure of humanity” over Gaza, with the international community not doing enough to end the fighting.
In late September, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared in a US television interview that “every day we get closer” to an agreement (recognizing Israel), adding that the Palestinian issue was “very important” and that any agreement would have to “ease the life of the Palestinians”.
The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel in 2020, Palestinians slammed the deals as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people”. Saudia Arabia is understood to be next country to normalise ties and recognise Israel.
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