3 yıl önce

Crown prince: Israel could be Saudi Arabia's potential ally

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says there are "many interests" that his country and Israel can pursue together, but some issues need to be resolved.

Reuters Archive

Crown Prince bin Salman has hopes that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is resolved.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman has said his country looks at Israel as a "potential ally," not as an enemy, if the Palestinian cause is to be resolved.

Crown Prince Mohammed spoke to The Atlantic magazine and was cited on Thursday by the Saudi state-run SPA news agency.

He said some issues must be resolved before reaching that moment.

"We look at Israel as a potential ally but before that, it should solve its problems with the Palestinians," said Mohammed bin Salman.

He said every country has full freedom to do what it sees fit, in reference to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalisation deal with Israel, and added that Saudi Arabia hopes to find a solution to the problem between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to Arab parameters for peace with Israel expressed in the 2002 Saudi-proposed Arab Initiative, which calls for normalising ties with Israel in return for a withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967.

After Egypt and Jordan signed a US-sponsored deal to normalise relations with Israel in September 2020, the UAE followed.

Three other Arab states — Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — joined the UAE in the controversial move known as the Abraham Accords.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the city in 1980 in a move that has never been recognised by the international community.