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Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief said that Israel has become a greater threat to regional stability than Iran, signaling a shift in the strategic stance of the kingdom that began to emerge after the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Asked which is a greater threat to regional stability during an interview at the Milken Institute’s Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi on December 5, Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal responded, “For the moment, definitely it is Israel.”
“We’ve seen that Iran has been dealt a strong hand by the U.S.,” he said, apparently referencing Washington’s strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities during the 12-day war with Israel last June.
“Events in Lebanon with the diminishing of Hezbollah and the change of the regime in Syria have obviously affected Iran’s ability to affect and influence events in the broader Middle East,” he continued.
Prince Turki added that “Israel is feeling its oats by bombing Syria on almost a daily basis, continuing to bomb Palestinians – whether in Gaza or the West Bank and also in Lebanon, where there’s supposed to be a ceasefire.”
“That is definitely not a harbinger of peace in our part of the world. In my view, it is Israel now that is the troublemaker and should be reigned in,” he noted.
Prince Turki is a prominent member of the Saudi royal family. Thus, he remains influential in Riyadh even after leaving his position as intelligence chief.
Saudi Arabia has grown more hesitant about the prospect of normalizing with Israel as a result of the war in Gaza, which saw Israel expanding its operations across the region and even carrying out an unprecedented attack on Qatar right next to the kingdom in September.
A report published by The Times of Israel on December 5 revealed that the war very much killed a deal that the U.S. was working on to bring the kingdom into the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
The deal, which was being finalized by then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken when the war broke out, lays out what Israel would need to do in exchange for Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, namely a series of relatively minor concessions meant to assuage Palestinian aspirations for statehood including giving the Palestinian Authority control over additional territories in the occupied West Bank.
As a ceasefire entered into effect in Gaza last October as a part of a peace plan proposed by the U.S. President Donald Trump, hopes for a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia were revived. However, optimism was short lived, mainly due to Israel’s unwillingness to make any concessions.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on November 18 during his White House meeting with Trump that Riyadh wants to join the Abraham Accords, but called for the need to secure a path towards a two-state solution.
“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that [we] secure a clear path [toward a] two-state solution,” Bin Salman said in response to a question on the matter from reporters in the Oval Office, while sitting alongside Trump.
However, just two days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that there will not be a Palestinian state, even at the cost of normalization with Saudi Arabia.
“There will not be a Palestinian state. It’s very simple: it will not be established,” the premier said in an interview with Abu Ali Express, a popular local Telegram channel.
Asked at the time if his opposition holds even if it jeopardizes normalization with Riyadh, Netanyahu said: “The answer is: a Palestinian state will not be established. It is an existential threat to Israel.”
He noted that the war in Gaza strained progress, but that “the conditions could develop” now that the war is winding down.
“But the conditions must be acceptable to both sides – terms that are good for both sides,” he said. “I know how to stand firm on our essential conditions and not endanger our security. And if this process ripens later on, excellent. And if not, we will safeguard our vital interests.”
Reports that emerged around the same time revealed that Israel attempted to tie a Saudi purchase of F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets from the U.S. to normalization, but ultimately the deal moved forward in Washington without such conditions.
All in all, it is clear that Saudi Arabia is no longer that interested in normalizing relations with Israel. This is, of course, a blow to the Abraham Accords which from the get go were designed to include the kingdom, the most influential Arab country today.
This loss is a direct result of the war in Gaza. Normalization with Saudi Arabia would have given Israel a whole new level of legitimacy in both the Arab and Islamic words. That’s not to mention all the benefits that would have come from economic cooperation.
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the saudis will play the game, obviously of maintaining pressure that maximises oil profits. and they will side with the nazi party as in the past because they’re all monarchies. israels the democrat.