The prospect of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel is “off the table” without the Palestinians being granted an independent state, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told CNN’s Becky Anderson in Riyadh.
“Normalization with the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia is not just at risk (for Israel), it’s off the table until we have a resolution to Palestinian statehood,” he said. “I would say more than that, it’s not just the issue of normalization with the kingdom that is at risk, I would say the security of the region as a whole is at risk if we do not address the rights of the Palestinians.”
Prince Faisal was reiterating a policy laid out by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month, when he told the country’s Shura Council that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without a Palestinian state.
The Biden administration has made Israel-Saudi normalization one its key Middle East policy goals. The US and Saudi Arabia had engaged in discussions on the pact in 2023, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to fly to Riyadh on October 10 of last year to discuss the details, just three days before Hamas attacked Israel, derailing the effort.
Saudi Arabia and the US were negotiating a potential landmark defense agreement over the past year that was pursuant on Saudi normalization with Israel.
“There is one element of the bilateral agreements that we’re working on that is tied to normalization. … The Crown Prince made very clear what would be required for the kingdom to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. … Absent that we’re very happy to wait until the situation is amenable,” he said.
