Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader announced on Wednesday that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is established, dealing a setback to US efforts to broker a normalization deal.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized the kingdom’s firm stance against Israeli actions and reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to pursuing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stated that the kingdom will not enter into diplomatic relations with Israel without achieving this goal.
This announcement challenges the 2020 normalization agreements brokered by then-US President Donald Trump between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which had previously broken the longstanding Arab consensus against normalization without an independent Palestinian state.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had recently expressed hope for a swift normalization deal with Saudi Arabia as a potential reward for Israel in exchange for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner release. He mentioned that a deal might be achievable before President Joe Biden’s term ends in January, contingent on progress in Gaza and a credible path to Palestinian statehood.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government remains opposed to Palestinian statehood, complicating the prospects for a deal.
