Riyadh - Saudi Arabia's crown prince said
Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an
interview published on Monday in US magazine The Atlantic,
another public sign of ties between the two countries appearing
to grow closer.
Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a
nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland,
Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying:
"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right
to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to
assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."
Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest
shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years
that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from
Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory
Palestinians seek for a future state.
"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy
mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian
people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection
against any other people," said Prince Mohammed who is touring
the United States to drum up investments and support for his
efforts to contain Iranian influence.
Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fuelled
speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and
Israel to work together against what they see as a common
Iranian threat.
"There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if
there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel
and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", Prince Mohammed
added.
Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a
commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli
official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.
In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert
contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of
long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.
Saudi Arabia condemned US President Donald Trump's move to
recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab
officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on
board with a broader US strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian
peace plan still in its early phases of development.