During a private conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed his indifference towards the Palestinian issue.
According to media reports, in one of the meetings Blinken raised the question of whether bin Salman was willing to accept the possibility of regular operations of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza to fight terrorism as part of a future post-war agreement. .
To this, bin Salman responded that he allows such actions only once every six months or a year, but not immediately after signing the agreement. He stressed that he was concerned about the public reaction in Saudi Arabia:
“70% of my population is younger than me. Many of them have little or no knowledge of the Palestinian issue. Personally, I don’t care about the Palestinian issue, but it does matter to my people and I have to show that it matters.”
These comments were made during a meeting in Al-Ula in January. The prince also noted that he believes that the Biden administration is the best opportunity to promote the normalization of relations with Israel, and that such a step is only possible under the Democratic Party government.
Previously, Cursor reported that Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud said that Saudi Arabia does not plan to establish diplomatic relations with Israel until there is an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. He noted that his country “firmly supports the Palestinian people and condemns Israel’s actions,” which he described as “a violation of international and humanitarian law.”
