“There is nothing preventing complete diplomatic relations with Israel,” the Saudi journalist told IDF Army Radio.
By United With Israel Staff
As signs continue to grow of warming relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a Saudi journalist was interviewed on Israel’s Army Radio on Tuesday.
The two countries still do not maintain official ties and the journalist requested that his name not be revealed on the radio program.
Nevertheless, in the interview, he stated that “There is nothing preventing complete diplomatic relations with Israel.”
He is said to have come to Israel together with two Iraqi citizens.
The unnamed Saudi journalist even took the opportunity of an interview on an Israeli radio station to criticize the Palestinians and to argue that their conflict with Israel should not get in the way of relations between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish State.
“Why should we have problems with Israel and the world’s superpowers, just because of a tiny Arab minority?” he asked rhetorically, referring to the Palestinians.
“This minority had the opportunity to have a state in 1947; they refused because they were too focused on the Jews not having a state,” he added.
On November 29,1947, the United Nations passed the Partition Plan, but instead of accepting the division of the land, the Arab World launched a war against the Jewish State when it declared independence in May 1948, aiming to destroy it but failing.
The Saudi journalist went as far as to conclude his interview with IDF Army Radio by expressing his love for Israel. “I love the State of Israel and all of its citizens,” he said.
Saudi blogger Mahmoud Saud publicly visited Israel in July and was even hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Saudi-Israeli relationship, though still covert, has been enhanced by the common threat posed by Iranian aggression in the region.