The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that his country would be willing to recognize the state of Israel should a comprehensive agreement be reached that would also include statehood for Palestinians.
"We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state," Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
When asked if the Saudis would be willing to recognize Israel as part of a broader political agreement, responded: "Certainly."
Prince Faisal further stated that creating a Palestinian state was essential for regional security and peace, adding that it was: "something we have been indeed working on with the U.S. administration, and it is more relevant in the context of Gaza".
The Saudis were working on a way to formally recognize the state of Israel prior to the October 7 ignition of hostilities in Gaza, but that plan was soon divested in a "swift reordering of diplomatic priorities."
What Is The United States Doing?
Reuters, quoting two sources, reported that there may be a significant delay in a U.S. -brokered sitdown on normalizing ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. This is seen as a stepping stone toward what Saudi Arabia really wants, a defense pact with the United States.
Both Israeli and Saudi leaders had expressed interest in steadily moving toward establishing diplomatic relations that could reshape the power dynamic in the region.
As recently as September 2023, the United Nations was hopeful that a peace agreement between the two parties was imminent. "Such a peace will go a long way in ending Arab-Israeli conflict and will encourage other Arab States to normalize their relations with Israel," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time, adding that it will also enhance prospects of peace with the Palestinians.
The agreement, he emphasized will "encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam, between Jerusalem and Mecca, between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael."
Just weeks later, an assault on southern Israel by Hamas that resulted in the death of 1,200 people, and the kidnapping of an estimated 250 others, placed all calls for peace and reconciliation on the backburner.
