Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that it would not formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established, following comments from Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who suggested that normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen”.
“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X.
Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have backed Israel and Saudi Arabia having diplomatic relations. Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its stance as the war continued, AFP reported.
The foreign ministry's statement came quickly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that establishing formal relations with Saudi Arabia “is not only feasible, I think it's going to happen”.
His government remains opposed to the internationally backed two-state solution. Netanyahu was speaking at the White House alongside Trump, whose administration in 2020 brokered accords which saw Israel establish relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.
Earlier, Netanyahu's comments raised hopes of a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's richest economy and custodian of Islam's two holiest sites.
While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognize Israel, it has been negotiating a rapprochement since 2020, seeking a US defence pact and assistance from Washington on a civilian nuclear program in exchange for normalization, as reported by AFP.
As Netanyahu is in the United States, during a joint press conference in the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister standing beside him in a surprising announcement, President Donald Trump said the US “will take over the Gaza Strip”, “own it” and undertake economic development there that will create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings,” Trump said.
Saudi Arabia seems to have adopted a dual-path diplomacy towards Israel—engaging with Israel informally, encouraging the UAE and Bahrain to normalise ties while still maintaining its traditional stance in public.
Israel’s recognised strengths in military, intelligence, and technology are appealing to Saudi Arabia, as Israeli support in these areas would strengthen the authoritarian Saudi regime and bolster defences against Iran.
However, on the issue of Palestine, there is a strong domestic discourse in Saudi Arabia that makes it challenging to abandon the Palestinian cause, especially since Israel is unlikely to offer full sovereignty to Palestine.
In the official release, Saudi Arabia said, “Achieving lasting and just peace is impossible without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights in accordance with international resolutions, as has been previously clarified to both the former and current US administration.”
The anti-Israeli narrative, built over decades, is rooted in the denial of Palestinian rights to a sovereign state and in Jewish conspiracy theories targeting Muslims. Formal ties with Israel would further challenge this consensus, deepening existing divisions within the Islamic world.
The Saudi royal family would also view these ties through the lens of regime survival.
India has fostered strong relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain and stands to benefit from peace and stability in West Asia. India had previously welcomed the Abraham Accords and reiterated its support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue. It is likely to welcome any agreement formalizing Israel-Saudi relations as sovereign nations.
(With inputs from agencies)
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