THE speech delivered by a prominent Saudi Prince on Sunday at a Bahrain security summit, which was remotely attended by Israeli Foreign Minister as well, would help clear the mist surrounding the position of the Kingdom on the crucial issue of Palestine and relations with Israel in the backdrop of rumour-mongering by some sections of international media. Prince Turki al-Faisal, who led Saudi intelligence for more than two decades and served as ambassador to the United States and Britain, warned that any normalization deals needed to help the Palestinians obtain their own independent state.
Though the Prince has no official position but diplomatic observers point out that his views closely mirror the stand taken on the issue by King Salman. Otherwise too, it is highly unlikely that a leader of his stature would express views quite opposite to the top leadership and that too so loudly and clearly. Saudi Arabia has a central and leading role in the Islamic world and it is next to impossible that the Kingdom would ignore sensitivities of the Ummah on an issue that is so dear to it. This also became evident from the role played by Saudi Arabia during the recently held conference of OIC Foreign Ministers at Niamey where the Kingdom supported all moves aimed at expressing solidarity with the cause of Palestinians and Kashmiris. Prince Turki al-Faisal, on the basis of his intimate knowledge of all aspects of the Middle-East problem, has rightly described the Jewish state as ‘Western colonizing’ power as Tel Aviv is pursuing policies aimed at physical and economic elimination of Palestinians. Saudi Arabia justifiably believed that any normalization between it and Israel can only happen alongside a lasting peace deal involving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is a pragmatic approach and hopefully such a consistent stand would ultimately force the Jewish state to a just resolution of the conflict.
