Saudi Arabia on path of reconciliation
SAUDI Arabia, it seems, is ready to renounce its enmity with its old foes and ready to mend ties with both Iran and Israel.
Indications to the change in the Saudi view towards Iran and Israel came recently. In an interview given by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, to SPA, the Saudi state news agency, and quoted by several international magazines, he is reported to have expressed a desire to mend ties with Iran and Israel, its old foes.
Salman said Israel could become a potential ally if the conflict with the Palestinians was resolved. On Iran, Salman was reported to have said that the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia were neighbours: “Neighbours forever. We cannot get rid of them, and they can’t get rid of us… So it’s better for both of us to work it out and to look for ways in which we can coexist.”
He is believed to have said that they could hopefully reach a position that was good for both countries and that it would create a brighter future for Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi-Israel ties
On restoring ties with Israel, he said that Saudi Arabia looked at Israel as a potential ally but before that, the Middle Eastern country should solve its problems with the Palestinians. Historically, Jerusalem and Riyadh do not maintain official diplomatic relations but they do share many regional interests, especially with respect to their mutual foe, Iran.
Extensive behind-the-scenes diplomatic and intelligence co-operation between the Gulf kingdom and the Jewish state have been reported in recent times and Israel has made no secret of its wish to have Saudi Arabia join the historic Abraham Accords, as Bahrain and the UAE did earlier.
The Saudi position has always been that such a move could only be pursued after the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ended.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to the Arab parameters for peace with Israel – expressed in the 2002 Saudi-proposed Arab Initiative. It calls for normalising relations with Tel Aviv in return for the withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the city in 1980 in a move that has never been recognised by the international community. The recent overtures contrast to the Saudi stand and reactions to various Israeli activities in Palestine. In November last year, it condemned a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The Saudi Foreign Ministry had described the act as a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the mosque, hostile and hurting feelings of Muslims all over the world. It added that the Israeli occupation would bear the consequences of this move. Salman had then described the move as a strong and wrong signal.
Hebron is home to roughly 160 000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 Jewish settlers. The latter live in a series of Jewish-only enclaves, heavily guarded by Israeli troops.
After the 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers inside the mosque by Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein, Israeli authorities divided the mosque complex between Muslim and Jewish worshippers. However, Salman, 36, has now described Israel as a potential ally and with many interests that they could pursue together.
“But we have to solve some issues before we get to that.”
In an interview with the Riyadhbased Arab News daily last year, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, the kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN, said Riyadh was committed to the Arab Initiative for peace. The initiative called for the end of the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories occupied in 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in return for normalising ties with Israel.
“The official and latest Saudi position is that we are prepared to normalise relations with Israel as soon as Israel implements the elements of the Saudi peace initiative that was presented in 2002,” Al-Mouallimi had said.
Last year only Israeli media had reported that a delegation of some 20 American Jewish leaders had visited Saudi Arabia and met with senior officials, including at least six government ministers and senior representatives of the Saudi royal house. This was in an effort to review possibilities of establishing ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
Also, there have been reports that now you can travel from Saudi Arabia to Israel easily – with immigration authorities overlooking an Israeli visa on your passport. Earlier there were instances where a Saudi visa was denied if you had an Israeli visa on your passport. In addition, many Saudi travel companies are now offering pilgrimage packages to Israel.
Saudi-Iran relations
The Saudi relations with Iran, blamed by Gulf states for creating chaos in the region, have at the same time shown signs of improvement with several rounds of talks hosted by Iraq.
Salman is reported to have said that it would be better for both Saudi Arabia and Iran to work it out and to look for ways in which they could coexist.
He said they could hopefully reach a position that was good for both countries and this would create a brighter future for his country and Iran.
Iran seems to have welcomed these remarks. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, told the state news agency IRNA recently that it was a sign of Riyadh’s desire to restore severed ties, and welcomed these overtures.
In 2016, protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed revered Shia cleric Nimr Al Nimr. Riyadh had responded at the time by cutting ties with Tehran.
Since April last year, the two countries have held four rounds of talks in Iraq aimed at improving relations.
These talks have been described by the Iranian diplomats as creating a good atmosphere and have delivered results, albeit small ones.
Iran has also appreciated Saudi Arabia’s desire to take the path of dialogue, though both parties have different views and approaches on some issues in the region, but the management of differences by the sides can serve the interests of the two nations much better.
Salman, who is seen as the harbinger of change in the tradition-moulded kingdom, has embarked on several projects to make the Saudi economy more resilient to the global changes and demands.
He has also ushered in some societal reforms and is being credited with planning and delivering the Neom city, which is being billed as a completely new concept in human dwelling habitats.
His latest views on both Israel and Iran seem to be inspired by his futuristic vision for the kingdom but are also steeped in traditional wisdom and a will to change old ways as per the requirements of the new world.
With reports of his father being ill, these steps are also aimed at improving his image as a national leader globally, besides portraying him as a leader who is ready to change with the wind of change.