The main agenda, according to senior Saudi officials, is Riyadh’s growing ties with Israel and how it will affect the Kingdom’s relationship with the Palestinians.
By United with Israel Staff
As a normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh appears closer than ever, the new non-resident Saudi ambassador to the Palestinian Authority headed a delegation to Ramallah to present his credentials to Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Maliki.
In an interview last week with Fox News, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that peace with the Jewish state was “getting closer every day,” with the support of the Biden administration. This was despite a statement earlier in the month by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the effect that an agreement could not be finalized without a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enthused about the prospects for more peace agreements between Israel and Saudi Arabia, among other Arab states. “I’ve long sought to make peace with the Palestinians. But I also believe that we must not give the Palestinians a veto over new peace treaties with Arab states,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador Nahef al-Sudairi, who also serves as consul-general to Jerusalem, made his first visit to the PA capital on Tuesday, during which he will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior officials. The main agenda of the two-day trip, officials said, is the growing Saudi-Israel ties and how that could affect the Kingdom’s relationship with the Palestinians.
For his part, Abbas told the UNGA last week that there can be no peace in the Middle East without “full and legitimate national rights” for the Palestinian people. At the same time, he distorted the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and spewed antisemitism and incitement to terror.