Saudi Arabia will ‘certainly’ recognize Israel if Palestine issue is resolved

  • January 17, 2024

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the kingdom could recognise Israel if an elaborate agreement were reached that included a state for Palestinians. “We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in front of a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

When asked if the kingdom would then recognise Israel as part of a larger political agreement, he replied: “Certainly.”

Prince Faisal said ensuring regional peace through the creation of a Palestinian state was “something we have been indeed working on with the US administration, and it is more relevant in the context of Gaza”.

After the war started last October between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas that rules Gaza, Saudi Arabia put the US-backed plans for the kingdom to normalise ties with Israel on hold, two sources intimate with Riyadh’s thinking said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudis-could-recognise-israel-if-palestinian-issue-resolved-foreign-minister-2024-01-16/