On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry finally broke its silence on the new Israel-United Arab Emirates deal, stating that the Kingdom would not be following its neighbour’s footsteps to establish normal diplomatic ties with the Jewish state any time soon. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Riyadh’s Foreign Minister, said during his visit to Berlin that “peace must be achieved with the Palestinians” as per internationally-recognized agreements as a prerequisite to any normalization efforts with Israel. “Once that is achieved, all things are possible,” he said.
While in Berlin, Prince Faisal and his German counterpart Heiko Maas criticized Israel’s plans to unilaterally annex and build settlements in parts of the occupied West Bank territory, calling these efforts “illegitimate” and “detrimental” to international demands for a two-state solution.
The UAE’s surprise United States-brokered deal with Israel has stirred mixed reactions from the Arab world. It is the third Arab country after Jordan and Egypt to normalize ties with Israel and the first Arab Gulf state to take the plunge, with other pro-Western states in the Gulf indicating that they may follow suit in striking similar accords. Riyadh had refrained from commenting on the deal so far but Prince Faisal’s statement insinuates that the Kingdom is unlikely to change its pro-Palestinian stance any time soon, despite pressure from Washington.
The new regional relationship between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv comes at a crucial time, with US tensions with Iran at an all-time high. Good relations with Israel and the Arab Gulf are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region as Iran continues to be supported by China, another US adversary. The Emirates and Tehran are already in the midst of an altercation—the Iranian foreign ministry on Thursday said that the country’s coastguard on Monday had detained a UAE-registered ship that was allegedly sailing illegally through its territorial waters. Tehran also summoned the Emirati envoy over an incident on Monday where Emirati coastguards reportedly killed two Iranian fishermen and seized a ship after opening fire on Iranian fishing boats.
In addition to the obvious Iran connection, however, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said that Turkey is also a common enemy for Israel and the Gulf states. “Iranian power is fragile,” he said, “but the real threat is from Turkey.”
Saudi Arabia Says No Normalizing Ties with Israel Until Palestinian Peace
The Kingdom is committed to a two-state solution as per international agreements
August 21, 2020
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud SOURCE: AFP/MIDDLE EAST EYE