Saudi Arabia ‘getting closer’ to normalising relations with Israel, crown prince says

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has told Fox News that ongoing negotiations with Israel mean the prospects of normalised relations between both countries is getting closer every day, but that treatment of Palestinians remains a “very important” issue to be resolved.

Saudi Arabia is discussing a major agreement with the US in which it would normalise relations with Israel in exchange for a US defence pact and aid in developing its own civilian nuclear program. The Saudis have said any deal would require major progress toward the creation of a Palestinian state, which could prove a hard sell for the most religious and nationalist government in Israel’s history.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader was asked during the interview what it would take to normalise relations with Israel.

“For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part,” he said. In excerpts released ahead of the broadcast, he added that there had been “good negotiations” so far.

“We got to see where we go,” he said. “We hope that will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, get Israel as a player in the Middle East.”

The prince denied reports that the talks had been suspended, saying “every day, we get closer”.

The interview was airing shortly after President Joe Biden met Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, while both were in New York for the meeting of the UN general assembly. Biden raised concerns about the far-right Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinians, urging Netanyahu to take steps to improve conditions in the West Bank at a time of heightened violence in the occupied territory.

Netanyahu’s office said afterward that the meeting “mostly dealt with ways to establish an historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which could greatly advance an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict and facilitate the establishment of an economic corridor to link Asia, the Middle East and Europe.”

National security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that it was best for the leaders of Israel and Saudi Arabia “to speak to how close they think they are, and where they think they are on the process,” noting that each country has to make “sovereign decisions” and “we respect that.

Prince Mohammed has given very few interviews to western media outlets, particularly since the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, in an operation by Saudi agents that US intelligence says was likely approved by the prince. The prince has denied any involvement.

In the five years since, the kingdom has shed whatever pariah status it had as focus has shifted to major diplomatic initiatives.

In the interview on Wednesday, prince Mohammed was asked if he was worried that Iran could eventually build a nuclear weapon and said that “we are concerned of any country getting a nuclear weapon”.

“That’s a bad move,” he said. “They don’t need to get nuclear weapon because you cannot use it. Even if Iran get a nuclear weapon, any country use a nuclear weapon that means they are having a war with the rest of the world.”

But, when pressed as to whether Saudi Arabia would seek to do the same if Iran had a nuclear weapon, the prince responded, “we will have to get one”.

Biden, who had vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the Khashoggi killing while campaigning for president in 2020, has since patched up relations with the crown prince while seeking his help in controlling oil prices and managing other regional issues.

Saudi Arabia has remained largely neutral on the Ukraine war, providing humanitarian aid to the country and offering itself as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv. The kingdom maintains good relations with the US, China and Russia in order to advance its own national interests.