Saudi official: excluding Hamas damages Palestinian negotiators

Dr Zoheir Al Harthy, a member of the Saudi Shura Council, has not rule out a possible Saudi attempt to calm tensions between Egypt and the Hamas movement with the aim of restoring good relations between the two and facilitating the resumption of Egypt-sponsored Palestinian national reconciliation talks.

In a statement to Quds Press, Al-Harthy asserted that Saudi Arabia is convinced that Hamas’ absence from the political scene damages the Palestinian negotiating team engaged in talks with Israel. He also said, “I believe that Saudi diplomacy aims at reinforcing the concept of Arab reconciliation. This was stressed by King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz in all his initiatives. And I don’t rule out that Saudi Arabia could push for Egypt-sponsored Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation”. According to al-Harthy, Palestinian unity is essential for strengthening the Palestinian side in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations; Hamas’ absence distorts the Palestinian side and weakens its position in the negotiations while reconciliation would support the peace process.

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Al-Harthy stressed that the core element of Saudi foreign policy is to stand at an equal distance from all sides; “In my understanding, this is the key reason behind the success of the Saudi foreign policy,” as Saudi never cut its relations with Hamas or Hizbullah on the grounds that Arab interests come above everything else and to prevent regional sides from hijacking the Arab causes and issues. He gave as an example the Saudi stance on Lebanon and Saudi-Syrian agreement avoiding violence and militant solutions and seeing constitutional institutions as the means to resolve differences.

“As for the Palestinian cause, I believe it also depends on Hamas’ stance and its willingness to interact and accept national reconciliation and the on-going talks over the Egyptian paper. There is a Saudi willness to complement Cairo’s efforts toward resolving Palestinian-Palestinian tensions, which would definitely support the peace process,” he said.