The Saudi dedication to the Palestinian cause is averse to Israel’s interests, and thus: “Israel has rejected the idea of a diplomatic base in Jerusalem for Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the Palestinian Authority (PA), who recently presented his credentials to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khalidi.”
In fact. diplomacy is not a genuine element of the Palestinian agenda, the goal of which is to obliterate the State of Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
It was Saudi Arabia that requested an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency meeting to go to the UN to “take serious measures to hold Israel accountable” and “protect the Palestinian people,” after Israel defended itself from a barrage of rocket fire by Hamas in May 2021.
It is disturbing to see Saudi Arabia working so closely with the Holocaust-denying, Jew-hating Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. Saudi Arabia named Majdi al-Khalidi the first “non-resident ambassador to Palestine,” despite the fact that there is no actual state of “Palestine.” A state of “Palestine” has been declared at the OIC. The only time that Saudi Arabia et al discuss a “two-state solution” or any other framework for recognizing Israel is as a stratagem to diminish Israel’s international image by making it appear as if Israel were the stumbling block to peace. The truth is that the Palestinians, supported by the OIC, seek a one-state solution, that is, the complete obliteration of Israel.
It is also interesting to note that, despite efforts by the Biden administration, which favors the Palestinians, Israel recently ruled out any concessions to Palestinians to secure Saudi normalization. The outrageous concessions that were demanded included Israel’s return to pre-1967, indefensible borders. Netanyahu recently remarked:
In the diplomatic sphere, we were told for a quarter of a century that ‘There will be no peace with the Arab states if you do not first make an agreement with the Palestinians.’ But it is impossible to make an agreement with the Palestinians if they want us to disappear in this agreement.
“Israel says no Jerusalem base for Saudi envoy to Palestinian Authority,” Al Jazeera, August 13, 2023:
Israel has rejected the idea of a diplomatic base in Jerusalem for Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the Palestinian Authority (PA), who recently presented his credentials to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khalidi.
Ambassador Nayef al-Sudairi, the kingdom’s current ambassador to Jordan, was named as non-resident envoy to Palestine and consul general in Jerusalem on Saturday at the Palestinian embassy in Amman.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM on Sunday that the new ambassador, Nayef al-Sudairi, could meet representatives of the PA but would have no fixed presence.
“Will there be an official physically sitting in Jerusalem? This we will not allow,” Cohen said.
Normalisation in the background?
The file for the Palestinian territory has traditionally been handled by Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Amman.The Saudi move appeared to be in line with the longstanding and so-far fruitless Palestinian goal of founding a state in territories occupied by Israel in a 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Israel deems Jerusalem its own capital, a status recognised by the United States under then-President Donald Trump in 2017 but not by other world powers. Israeli authorities bar Palestinian diplomatic activity in the city……
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Given that the US has no clue of what its Saudi policy should be – in one breath, they want to ostracize Riyadh for Khashoggi, & on the other, beg Riyadh to produce more oil to offset Russia’s – Saudi Arabia, despite its partial reconciliation w/ Iran, would do well to not alienate Israel again. They rightly see US as a threat and have therefore tied up w/ both Russia and China. What’s more, they’re one of the main reasons behind 💵 ceasing to be the world’s reserve currency
somehistory says
al jazeera says “no other country” besides the U.s. recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I seem to recall that there were a couple of other counties which did the same.
Why should Israel *recognize* any envoy or ambassador to their enemies within, by allowing a residence inside their nation’s capital?
Little bunny rabbits may not be able to keep venomous snakes from invading their warren; but if they had some weapons with which to fight the snakes, they probably would keep them out.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
There are a few countries besides US that recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital long before the US did, like Guatemala & Honduras. Also, both Serbia and Kosovo have their embassies in Jerusalem – a move sponsored by Trump, if you recall
It’s pretty bizarre for any country to have an embassy anywhere other than the capital, or wherever the host country’s government sits. Since the primary role of an embassy is interfacing b/w the host country’s foreign ministry (state department in our case) and the guest nation’s foreign ministry. So it would be pretty stupid if another country, say Russia, had its US embassy in Louisville, KY