An argument is raging behind palace doors in Saudi Arabia: Now that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have forged ties with Israel, should the kingdom follow suit?
According to the US daily newspaper, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is in favor of a normalization agreement with the Jewish state and interested in trade cooperation and an alliance against a common enemy, Iran.
But the country’s leader, King Salman, is a longtime supporter of an Arab boycott against Israel, and supports the Palestinians’ demand for the creation of an independent state.
According to senior Saudi officials, the announcement of Israel’s sealed diplomatic agreements between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain greatly surprised the 84-year-old king, unlike his son, who was aware of the deal.
The prince, who has a close relationship with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, reportedly kept his father in the dark over the emerging agreement fearing his opposition, which would have prevented the UAE from establishing links with the Jewish state.
After learning about the Abraham Accords, the king ordered his foreign minister to re-declare the kingdom’s commitment to establishing a Palestinian state, without mentioning the normalization of relations.
At the same time, Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saoud, a member of the royal family and former Saudi ambassador to the United States, considered close to the king, also wrote a column in a local newspaper in which he reiterated his commitment to the Palestinians and implied that the Emirates should have put more pressure on the Israelis for more concessions.
“If an Arab country follows in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates,” he writes, “it must demand a price in return and it will have to be a high price.”
Source : I24 News
