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Saudi Arabia ‘unequivocally’ rules out peace with Israel without Palestinian state

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Saudi Foreign Minister says Riyadh will never normalize relations with Israel without a ‘credible, irreversible path’ to Palestinian statehood.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Saudi Arabia will not entertain normalization talks with Israel that are not predicated on a path to Palestinian statehood, Riyadh’s foreign minister said Sunday, the oil-rich kingdom’s most explicit statement yet linking a deal with Israel to the two-state solution.

Speaking with CNN Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud ruled out normalization talks with Israel, unless they are accompanied by what host Fareed Zakaria called a “credible and irreversible path to a Palestinian state.”

“That’s the only way we’re going to get a benefit,” said Prince Faisal.

The Saudi foreign minister also conditioned Saudi aid for rebuilding the Gaza Strip after the current war between Israel and Hamas on a “solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

“As long as we’re able to find a pathway to a solution, a resolution, a pathway that means that we’re not going to be here again in a year or two, then we can talk about anything.”

“But if we are just resetting to the status quo before Oct. 7, in a way that sets us up for another round of this, as we have seen in the past, we’re not interested in that conversation.”

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Saudi Arabia, which has in recent years expressed interest in cementing its de facto ties with Israel through a formal agreement, has repeatedly cited Palestinian statehood as a condition for a deal with Jerusalem.

Last week, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prince Faisal reiterated that Saudi Arabia remains open to a peace deal with Israel despite the ongoing Gaza war, while adding that such a deal could only be secured after the war’s end and in conjunction with the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state,” the prince said.

“There is a pathway towards a much better future for the region, for the Palestinians, and for Israel, that is peace, and we are fully committed to that.”

“A ceasefire on all sides should be a starting point for permanent sustainable peace, which can only happen through justice to the Palestinian people.”