Palestinians are watching Saudi Arabia closely

Palestinians have been carefully watching Saudi Arabia drawing closer to Israel.The past few months have seen not only a flood of Saudi statements on social media supporting normalisation with Israel (some saying that Saudi is “more important” than Palestine and others apparently dreaming of Israel becoming Saudi’s top vacationing spot), but also a flurry of diplomatic activity between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.Saudi and Israeli political leadership agree on a number of issues, the most important of which is the need to curb Iran’s growing influence and to keep the US engaged in the Middle East. Pursuing these common interests, the Saudis and the Israelis have intensified their efforts for a formal normalisation of relations.In June 2017, Anwar Eshki, former Saudi general and current head of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies, said that Saudi Arabia would accept normalisation with Israel if it, in turn, accepted the Arab peace initiative. He also said that if Saudi Arabia did so, the rest of the Islamic world would follow suit.

 

Source: Palestinians are watching Saudi Arabia closely | Middle East | Al Jazeera