THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has done well in reiterating its
principled position on Palestinian issue and relations with Israel,
stating that Israel’s Arab neighbours want peace, but they cannot be
expected to tolerate what amounts to theft, and certainly should not be
pressured into rewarding Tel Aviv for the return of land that does not
belong to it in the first place.
The clarification came from Principle Turki al-Faisal, the country’s
fformer Intelligence Chief and ex-Ambassador to the United States, whose
handshake with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister at a Munich security
conference was wrongly being interpreted by some circles as a step
towards warming of relations leading to eventual recognition of the
Jewish State. In fact, Saudi Arabia’s policy towards Israel is based on
principles and it has been championing the cause of Palestinians at all
regional and international forums, urging the need for a just and
peaceful resolution of the conflict. As Crown Prince, King Abdullah had
proposed a widely acclaimed land for peace formula for a durable peace
in the Middle East but unfortunately the Jewish State failed to respond
to the initiative in a positive manner. That Saudi Arabia has no enmity
with Jews as a community was also reflected in efforts of the Kingdom
towards promotion of inter-faith harmony. Saudi Arabia has sponsored
several moot to promote understanding between followers of different
religions, which shows that the Kingdom wants peace in the region and in
the world. However, this doesn’t mean compromising interests of the Arab
States or Palestinian people and that is why the two peace initiatives
by Saudi Arabia one in 1982 and the other in 2002 were aimed exactly at
that. Both of them promised recognition of Israel by all Arab states in
return for return of the occupied Arab lands by the Jewish State. This
is the only viable solution to the longstanding dispute and we hope
President Obama and other members of the international community would
urge Israel to respond to them in the same spirit.
