“Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel Ties Without Palestinian State” — Dismisses Netanyahu’s Claims Of Imminent Deal

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state was established, after the Israeli prime minister remarked that he thought 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.
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 rhetoric as the war continued.
In a shock announcement on Tuesday, Trump said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after Palestinians were resettled elsewhere and develop it economically. He was speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wednesday’s statement from the Saudi foreign ministry said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.
The statement came swiftly after Israel’s Netanyahu, speaking at the White House alongside Trump, had said establishing formal relations “is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen”. His government remains opposed to the internationally backed two-state solution.
Any proposed displacement of Palestinians is a highly sensitive matter among both Palestinians and Arab countries.
As fighting raged in the Gaza war, Palestinians feared they would suffer from another “Nakba”, or catastrophe, the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel.
The United States had led months of diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful and influential Arab states, to normalise ties with Israel and recognise the country. But the Gaza war, which began in October 2023, led Riyadh to shelve the matter in the face of Arab anger over Israel’s offensive.
Trump would like Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of countries like the United Arab Emirates, a Middle East trade and business hub, and Bahrain which signed the so-called Abraham Accords in 2020 and normalised ties with Israel.
In doing so, they became the first Arab states in a quarter century to break a long-standing taboo.
Establishing ties with Saudi Arabia would be a grand prize for Israel because the kingdom has vast influence in the Middle East, the wider Muslim world, and it is the world’s biggest oil exporter. It is the Arab world’s richest economy and guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel, but since 2020 has been negotiating rapprochement in exchange for a US defence pact and Washington’s help on a civilian nuclear programme.
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