Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler said Wednesday that the kingdom will not establish ties with Israel until a Palestinian state has been created, in a blow to US efforts to seal a normalization deal.
“We renew the kingdom’s rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority against the Palestinian people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the opening session of its advisory Shura Council.
“The kingdom will not cease its tireless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without one,” he added.
Normalization deals brokered by then-US president Donald Trump in 2020 between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had ended a longstanding Arab consensus that there should be no normalization without an independent Palestinian state and thrown the spotlight on their more powerful neighbor Saudi Arabia.
As recently as earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been holding out the prospect of the swift establishment of ties with the Gulf Arab oil kingpin as a potential dividend for Israel from a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
