Follow Us on Google News
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) while rejecting pressure from the US President Donald Trump, has refused to formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established.
As per an AFP report, Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have backed Israel and Saudi Arabia having diplomatic relations, while Trump is especially forcing the Kingdom to diplomatic relations with Israel, however, Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established. A Day earlier, Israel’s prime minister remarked that he thought normalization with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen”.
“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X.
Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued.
The foreign ministry’s statement came swiftly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said establishing formal relations “is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen”.
His government remains opposed to the internationally backed two-state solution.
Netanyahu was speaking at the White House alongside Trump, whose administration in 2020 brokered accords that saw Israel establish relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco ,and Bahrain.
That raised hopes of a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s richest economy and guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.