Gulf sector will benefit from cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel:

Riyadh: Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal claimed, ‘If cooperation is established between Saudi Arabia and Israel, the biggest beneficiary will be the Gulf sector. The Israeli cooperation will prove vital for the Gulf sector on economic, social and security level.’ Saying that it is necessary that the peace process between Israel and Palestine is started before the Saudi Arabia-Israel cooperation can be developed, the Saudi Arabian Minister seems to have adopted a cautious stand. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal recently gave an interview to a leading US news channel. During the interview, he was asked, ‘Will Saudi Arabia establish cooperation with Israel like UAE and Bahrain?’ Foreign Minister Prince Faisal clarified the Saudi Arabian stand while answering the question.

Prince Faisal said, ‘The process of establishment of ties with Israel had started in the past. In 2002, a proposal to that effect had been presented during the Arab peace plan. Before that, even in the Faiz plan presented in 1982, it was suggested that complete cooperation might be established with Israel. This cooperation could have been established after resolving the Palestine issue.’

The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister said that even today if the borders and rights before 1967 are accepted, cooperation can be established between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Prince Faisal reacted, ‘In that scenario, the Gulf sector will be more secured and prosperous, and Israel will also become a partner.’ Prince Faisal clarified that in a scenario that the Israel-Palestine peace process is successful, airline services would start between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and Israeli citizens will be allowed entry into Saudi Arabia.

Last year, in September, former US President Donald Trump mediated the Abraham agreement between Israel and the Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia had welcomed the deal at that time. But Saudi Arabia had taken a stand that the Saudi Arabia-Israel ties will develop only after the Palestine peace process is on track. In February, Prince Faisal had raised the Palestine issue during the Arab League meeting.

Meanwhile, the official Saudi Arabian stand is that no relations with Israel can be established unless the Palestine issue is resolved. Prince Faisal presented his country’s stand while talking to the US news channel. But it has been exposed that Saudi Arabia and Israel have secret cooperation because of the impending Iranian threat. Reports of meetings between Israeli and Saudi Arabian officials were published during the United States and the United Kingdom sessions.

Whereas, a US newspaper had carried a report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November last year, in the Neom city of Saudi Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia had dismissed the report, Israeli leaders had confirmed the report.