While offering his support for the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime, the Saudi Foreign Minister said that the full normalization of relations with Tel Aviv was not only good for Israel but for all of them.
Faraan: In an interview with the German news agency, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud addressed the issue of normalizing relations with the Zionist regime. In the last hours of Thursday evening, Al Jazeera reported that the Saudi Foreign Minister described the normalization agreements signed between some Arab countries and Tel Aviv as a “very positive delivery.”
According to the report, Faisal bin Farhan stated in this regard: “We hoped – even before the signing of the Abrahamic agreements – that a new movement towards peace and a better situation in the region would take place. Nonetheless, it is always important to remember that the main problem is the Palestinian issue.”
According to Al Jazeera, the Saudi foreign minister emphasized the need to find a way to bring the Palestinians and Tel Aviv officials to the negotiating table to talk about a two-state solution and achieve a long lasting peace. Ben Farhan added: “We believe that a full normalization process with Israel in the region is not only significant and good for Israel, but also good for all of us, because this step may be economically, socially and security-wise beneficial for our countries.”
However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, “Without resolving the Palestinian issue, everything will be fragile and in the event of any tension, it will break easily and immediately.” Faisal bin Farhan added, “The situation in the Palestinian territories is difficult, so the priority now is to revive the peace process.” The remarks came as the Hebrew-language newspaper Israel Hume reported in October that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud had made unprecedented remarks in support of the Zionist regime. Israel Hume wrote in this regard: “We do not see such statements every day in the approval of Israel by a Saudi official, as we saw today in Washington.”
Asked whether Riyadh would normalize relations with Tel Aviv, Faisal bin Farhan said a day after meeting with the US Secretary of State: “Israel is stabilizing the region and moving towards bringing peace to the region.” However, the Saudi Foreign Minister added that Saudi Arabia is convinced that the only way to achieve full stability is to resolve the Palestinian issue.
“I do not know if this is imminent or not, because it largely depends on the progress of the peace process,” Faisal bin Farhan had previously said in an interview with the US network CNN in response to a question about the possibility of normalizing relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. The Saudi Foreign Minister also stated: “Therefore, the option of normalizing relations is definitely on the table, although it has been known as the Arab peace plan since 2002.”
The Arab Peace Plan, approved by all member states at the Arab Summit in Beirut, Lebanon, in March 2002, contains provisions that prevent normalization of relations with the Zionist regime until Tel Aviv commits itself to restoring Palestinian rights under international resolutions and also withdraw from the territory of the Arab countries it occupied in 1967.
