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His comments reflect an apparent toughening of his views on an issue that could reshape the diplomatic map of the Middle East.
- Sept. 19, 2024, 8:43 a.m. ET
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has declared that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel before the “establishment of a Palestinian state,” an apparent hardening of his position on an issue that could reshape the diplomatic map of the Middle East.
“The kingdom will not cease its tireless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without one,” the crown prince and the kingdom’s de facto ruler said on Wednesday in an address to a senior advisory council. “We thank all the countries that recognized the Palestinian state as an embodiment of international legitimacy, and we urge other countries to take similar steps.”
For decades, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, like those of most other Arab countries, refused to recognize Israel without the creation of a state for the Palestinians. But after 2020, when four Arab states established formal ties with Israel in agreements brokered by then-President Donald J. Trump, Prince Mohammed became the first Saudi leader to talk openly about the possibility of Saudi Arabia doing the same.
In an interview with Fox News last September, he called a potential agreement “the biggest historical deal since the end of the Cold War” and said it would require “a good life for the Palestinians” but did not mention Palestinian statehood.
His statement on Wednesday followed a general hardening of official Saudi rhetoric toward Israel since the start of the Gaza war in October.
“We renew the kingdom’s rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority against the Palestinian people,” Prince Mohammed said, delivering remarks on behalf of his father.
