Saudi crown prince: Israel has ‘right’ to its ‘land’
The crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia said Israel has a “right” to a homeland, a notable shift in the kingdom’s position.
Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recent years. Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports their claim to sovereignty.
“I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land,” Mohammed bin Salman told to the editor-in-chief of US newsmagazine The Atlantic in an interview published on Monday.
“But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations,” said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.
Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-palestinian conflict.
But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a “right” to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.
If, as expected, the crown prince succeeds his octogenarian father King Salman and ascends to the Saudi throne, he will also become guardian of Islam’s holiest shrines.
But the prince he had no “religious objection” to Israelis living alongside Palestinians, so long as the main Muslim holy site in Al-quds – the Al-aqsa Mosque compound – is protected.
“We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Alquds and about the rights of the Palestinian people,” he said.
“This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any other people.”
The announcement is the latest step in the kingdom’s path moving toward normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel.
On Friday, bin Salman met with the leaders of a number of pro-israeli lobbying groups during his tour.
According to a leaked copy of his itinerary, the Israeli Haaretz daily reported that bin Salman had conferred with officials from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Stand Up for Israel (ADL), the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), Presidents’ Conference, B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
AFP and Press TV contributed to this story.