Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has said he believes Israelis have a right to a homeland alongside Palestinians.
When asked if he believed Israeli people had a right to a nation-state, Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Saudi throne, said: “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”
Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and has maintained for years that establishing any diplomatic relations hinges on Israel’s withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory that Palestinians seek for a future state.
The crown prince also said that, while the ultra-conservative country has “religious concerns” about the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians, it has no objection “against any other people”.
“There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and, if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,” Prince Mohammed told The Atlantic magazine as he toured the United States.
Read the full article written by Josie Ensor at the Sydney Morning Herald.