This is a major diplomatic agreement that could see the light of day shortly. Saudi Arabia and Israel are “moving closer” to an agreement to normalize their relations, which would be historic, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday (September 20) in an interview with American television.
“We are getting closer every day,” he said, according to excerpts of this interview with the Fox News channel, at the time when American President Joe Biden met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York. “For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We have to resolve it,” he said, emphasizing that “negotiations are going well so far.”
He denied press reports of a “suspension” of talks with Israel. “We hope that they will lead to an outcome that will make life easier for the Palestinians and allow Israel to play a role in the Middle East,” Mohammed bin Salman added.
Israel has already normalized relations with five Arab countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Asked also about the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, the crown prince, who de facto heads the Saudi kingdom, warned that Arabia would then be forced to do the same. “We are concerned that a country might acquire a nuclear weapon. This is a bad thing,” he said.
“They don’t need to get a nuclear weapon because they can’t use it,” he said. But, he added, “if they get one, we have to get one too.”
A successful rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel would have a profound impact in the Middle East, said the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, on Wednesday in an interview with the ABC channel. This would have a “powerful effect on stabilizing the region, on integrating the region, on bringing people together,” Antony Blinken said.
