‘I don’t care about Palestinian issue,’ says Saudi crown prince

Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, says he does not care about Palestinian statehood – but explains why Riyadh continues to insist on two-state solution regardless.

By World Israel News Staff

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has little interest personally in Palestinian statehood and would not link normalization of relations with Israel to a two-state solution, were it not for his concerns over how his nation’s citizens relate to the issue, the prince admitted in a candid conversation with The Atlantic.

Speaking with the magazine in an interview published last week, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, heir apparent to the throne and prime minister who has served for years as de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, shared his views on Palestinian statehood and its relation to attempts to normalize ties with the Jewish state.

Prior to the Hamas invasion of southwestern Israel on October 7th of last year, Riyadh was engaged in talks with Washington for a comprehensive deal which would include increased American aid and support for a Saudi nuclear program, along with normalization of ties with Israel.

Saudi Arabia has gradually softened its position vis-a-vis Israel, fueling speculation of formal recognition following the 2020 Abraham Accords, which established ties between Israel and several moderate Arab states.

The Biden administration and Riyadh appeared on the verge of a breakthrough that would enable Israel and Saudi Arabia to establish formal relations for the first time in history, with Netanyahu reportedly vowing to the U.S. he would modify his governing coalition to ensure him backing for such a deal.

Throughout the talks, the Saudis insisted that Palestinian statehood would be a necessary part of an deal with Israel – a condition that directly contradicted Netanyahu’s stated policies and the position of his coalition allies.

The Hamas invasion, however, and subsequent war in Gaza and burgeoning conflict between Israel and Hezbollah took a Saudi-Israel normalization deal off the table, with Riyadh issuing several sharp criticisms of Jerusalem over its handling of the war.

Yet privately, bin Salman has expressed continued interest in normalizing ties with Israel, albeit after the current war in Gaza has ended.

According to The Atlantic, when asked by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken what were the prerequisites for resuming efforts towards a normalization deal, bin Salman said that the war in Gaza must come to a conclusion and Israel leave Gaza.

Bin Salman said he understood Israel might need to reenter the coastal enclave for security purposes at a later date, but said it could not occur close to any public moves towards normalization.

“They can come back in six months, a year, but not on the back end of my signing something like this,” bin Salman was quoted as saying.

The Crown Prince emphasized that while he personally is uninterested in the Palestinian question, he is concerned by how the Israel-Palestinian conflict could enflame public opinion in his country, particularly should Riyadh commit to normalizing ties with Israel.

“Seventy percent of my population is younger than me,” bin Salman was quoted as saying.

“For most of them, they never really knew much about the Palestinian issue. And so they’re being introduced to it for the first time through this conflict. It’s a huge problem. Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do, so I need to make sure this is meaningful.”

The Atlantic noted that a Saudi official later claimed that the report’s description of bin Salman’s comments was “incorrect.”