Saudi Arabia: prominent cleric talks to Israeli TV about normalisation

Prominent Saudi Arabian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim Al-Ghamdi has spoken to Israeli state-owned Kan 11 TV about the normalisation of ties between the Kingdom and the occupation state.

Al-Ghamdi is the former head of the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah. He said that the religious circles in Saudi Arabia are “divided over reconciliation” with Israel, but pointed out that any agreement on the normalisation of ties must “include adequate responses to Palestinian demands.”

The cleric also said that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions normalisation on Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is “the best solution to achieve stability in the region.”

Normalisation without addressing the Palestinian issue will not end violence in the occupied territories, the Sheikh insisted, and will not serve the interests of Israel and other countries in the region in the long term. Any opposition to Israeli normalisation among religious circles in Saudi Arabia, he added, will have no impact on stability in the region.

The cleric’s comments came amidst repeated reports about an agreement getting closer between Saudi Arabia and the US that would include normalisation of ties with Israel.

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