clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Lebanese paper: Saudi considering normalising relations with Israel

November 15, 2017 at 1:59 pm

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir in Manama, Bahrain on 30 July 2017 [Stringer/Anadolu Agency]

Saudi Arabia is considering the possibility of normalising relations with Israel according to Lebanese news sources.

A report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, described as being pro-Hezbollah, alleged that Riyadh was weighing up the prospect of normalising ties with Israel ahead of a planned Middle East peace programme spearheaded by the Trump administration.

It’s reported that the peace plan drafted by the White House will attempt to secure a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The plan will also lead to the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state by the larger Arab world.

The report claimed that it had seen a secret document from the Saudi Foreign Ministry that includes a road map towards rejuvenating the 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative. The contents of the letter were reportedly sent from Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir to the Kingdom’s Defence Minister and Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman.

In the letter, Al-Jubeir urges the Crown Prince to accept the Trump administration’s efforts to normalise relations between Israel and the Arab world, listing the potential benefits of such a dramatic shift in Saudi policy.

Read: Saudi FM refuses to comment on Saudi-Israel cooperation

Al-Jubeir acknowledges that the move would initially be rejected by much of the Arab world, but the move would be beneficial in the long-term, said the report.

Saudi Arabia, which is alleged to be detaining the Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, as part of a broad campaign to realign actors in the region, is spearheading US efforts to end the Israel-Palestine conflict under a new deal.

Last week, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he had to back Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace deal or resign.  Abbas was offered the ultimatum after being summoned to Riyadh for a meeting with Bin Salman days after US Presidential advisor Jared Kushner made an unannounced visit to the Saudi capital to meet the young crown prince.

Details of the peace deal offered to Abbas remain unclear, but Palestinian concerns have been raised because Kushner and other key architect of the deal are the most pro-Israeli in years. Their support for Israel is odd even by American standards. Kushner has given money to Israeli settlements and his family are close friends of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Monday, Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara invited the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, to Tel Aviv after he described Hamas as a “terrorist organisation” and said that fighting against Israel was “inappropriate”.