*WASHINGTON: The crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia saidIsrael has a “right” to a homeland, a notable shift in the kingdom’sposition published Monday.*
Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, butbehind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recentyears.
Both countries see Iran as their biggest outside threat and the UnitedStates as their key ally, and both see danger from armed Islamistextremists.
Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to afull rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports their claim tosovereignty.
But now Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — speaking to the editor-in-chiefof US news magazine The Atlantic — appeared to put the rival land claims onan equal footing.
The prince was asked by Jeffrey Goldberg whether the “Jewish people have aright to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?”
“I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in theirpeaceful nation,” said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.
“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have theirown land,” he added.
“But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyoneand to have normal relations.”
Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab PeaceInitiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinianconflict.
But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted thatIsrael has a “right” to any land beyond the practical need to secure alasting deal.
If, as expected, the crown prince succeeds his octogenarian father KingSalman and ascends to the Saudi throne, he will also become guardian ofIslam’s holiest shrines.
But he told Goldberg he had no “religious objection” to Israelis livingalongside Palestinians, so long as the main Muslim holy site in Jerusalem —the Al-Aqsa mosque compound — is protected.
“We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalemand about the rights of the Palestinian people,” he said.
“This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any otherpeople.” – AFP