Saudi Arabia has reiterated its stance on diplomatic relations with Israel, emphasizing that it will not establish such relations unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, and Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip cease. The Saudi foreign ministry issued this statement to reaffirm its position to Washington, particularly in response to comments made by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby regarding potential normalization discussions between Saudi Arabia and Israel. While the idea of formalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been discussed since the normalization agreements between Israel and Gulf neighbors UAE and Bahrain in 2020, Saudi Arabia has consistently emphasized the importance of addressing Palestinian concerns as a precondition for any such diplomatic relations.
In recent developments, Saudi Arabia has put on hold U.S.-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel, as sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking revealed in October 2023. This decision came amidst escalating conflict between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israeli forces, with Israel launching a military offensive in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel, resulting in casualties and hostage-taking incidents.
No comments:
Post a Comment