US reveals Saudi’s support for Egypt peace deal with Israel

The US State Department has published a new set of secret documents that reveal Saudi support for Israel after the October War and the Kingdom’s pivotal role in completing the Camp David Accords.

A telegram, which dates back to 10 August 1978 and which was sent from the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia to the US State Department, reveals that a meeting was held on 9 August of the same year in Taif city between US ambassador John C. West and Saudi foreign minister at that time, Prince Saud Al-Faisal.

A US official who wrote the telegram and participated in the meeting, and whose identity was not disclosed, said that Prince Saud “had expressed his full support” for the US President Jimmy Carter’s invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to hold a meeting at Camp David and “conveyed that he was considering the recommendation of the General Advisory Committee to issue a public statement regarding this support.”

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According to the telegram, Al-Faisal said during the meeting that “he definitely considered that Saudi Arabia’s position on the negotiations had been distorted, and the Saudis did not seek to end the negotiations.” He explained that the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince at that time, Prince Fahd Bin Abdulaziz, to Cairo was not aimed at that.

The Saudi foreign minister asserted that Prince Fahd’s visit to Egypt came after Sadat decided not to attend the negotiations at Leeds Castle in England due to be held 18-19 July 1978. The telegram revealed also that Prince Saud responded with remarkable enthusiasm and said: “We want the Camp David Accords to succeed, because that would be a success for our closest friends in Egypt and the United States.”

“We will do everything we can to help,” he added.