Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), de facto chief executive of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against Palestinians.
“The Palestinian cause is a top priority for Saudi Arabia, and we reiterate the kingdom’s rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, in disregard of international and humanitarian law in a new and bitter chapter of suffering,” he said.
“The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” he declared.
“We extend our thanks to the countries that recognised the Palestinian state in embodiment of international legitimacy, and we urge the rest of the countries to take similar steps,” he said.
The crown prince, known by his initials MBS, made his remarks in his annual address to the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, more commonly called the Shura Council.
The Shura Council is a 150-member quasi-legislative body whose members are chosen by the monarchy from the ranks of scholars and experts in various fields. The council is technically only an advisory body for the king, who can dismiss any of its members or dissolve the council entirely if he pleases, but it has been given more responsibilities under reforms that began in 2004.
The current king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, is 88 years old and in frail health, so his 39-year-old heir MBS has handled the past few annual speeches to the Shura Council. The members of the Council swear a formal oath of allegiance to the monarchy at the end of the yearly royal address.
MBS’ comments were not unexpected given the political and religious dimensions of the Hamas-Israel war.
When former President Donald Trump brokered the September 2020 Abraham Accords, under which Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalized relations with Israel, there were hopes Saudi Arabia might join. The Accords seemed to break the longstanding Middle Eastern stalemate that Arab nations would never recognize Israel until it gave up territory for a Palestinian state.
A few other states joined the Abraham Accords, such as Sudan, Morocco, and Kosovo, but the grand prize of Saudi Arabia remained elusive. The Biden administration, seemingly determined to return to Barack Obama’s bizarre pro-Iranian foreign policy and unwilling to credit Trump for changing the political situation in the Middle East, left the Accords to wither. President Joe Biden made a point of personally antagonizing MBS, sending U.S.-Saudi relations on a downward spiral.
Just two weeks before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, MBS said his country was making progress toward normalization with Israel. “Every day we get closer,” he said.
Even then, MBS insisted the “Palestinian issue is very important,” but not quite in such adamant terms as he used on Wednesday.
“We got to see where we go. We hope that will reach a place that will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel as a player in the Middle East,” he said.
MBS cultivated a reputation as a bold reformer, alongside accusations of authoritarianism and repression from his critics. He touted his reform achievements in his speech to the Shura Council, including progress on his plan to diversify the Saudi economy away from complete reliance upon oil.
Those hosannas to reform and progress came right before the Crown Prince demanded Palestinian statehood and lowered the boom on normalization with Israel.
The Biden administration downplayed progress toward Saudi-Israeli normalization before the October 7 attack, but lately it has been trying to raise hopes of a deal before Biden formally leaves office.
“I think if we can get a ceasefire in Gaza, there remains an opportunity through the balance of this administration to move forward on normalization,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Haiti on September 6.
Blinken has also said normalization would require “calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.” The Saudi chief executive’s comments on Wednesday suggest he will insist on reaching the end of that “credible pathway” before making a deal, which means the deal will not be struck with Joe Biden nominally in the White House.
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