RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Palestinian officials welcomed a first Saudi ambassador on Saturday, in a show of support even as the Gulf kingdom is considering formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, has championed the Palestinian cause and shunned official ties with Israel, but the United States is trying to promote what could be a historic Middle East deal that would include the normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations.
At a ceremony in Jordan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khalidi received a copy of Ambassador Nayef Al-Sudairi’s credentials as a non-resident envoy, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
The move is “an important step that will contribute to further strengthen the strong fraternal relations that unite the two countries and the two brotherly peoples,” al-Khalidi said, according to Wafa.
Palestinian analyst Talal Okal said the diplomatic appointment was an intermediate step toward an official Saudi representative office in the occupied West Bank. “It is also a message that Saudi Arabia was committed to the rights of the Palestinians in a fully sovereign state,” he added.
PALESTINIAN CONCERN
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said last week that Abbas’s Western-backed Palestinian Authority hopes to open talks with Saudi Arabia over concerns about possible normalization with Israel.
US, Israeli and Saudi officials have said any such deal would be some way off, with complex issues to resolve, including an escalation in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the possibility of Saudi Arabia developing civilian nuclear power.
The Palestinians worry that any deal could weaken support for their cause in the wider Arab world and undermine their hopes for an independent Palestinian state.
Saudi Arabia has quietly agreed to the so-called Abraham Accords, which have normalized ties between Israel and the Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Asked if he would consider making concessions to the Palestinians as part of a Saudi deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with NBC this month that “the Palestinians must have all the power to govern themselves.” themselves and none to threaten us”.
However, members of his far-right coalition have ruled out any concessions. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Ali Swafta in Ramallah, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Hatem Maher in Cairo; Writing by Lubell; Editing in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
