Saudi Arabia today appointed for the first time a non-resident ambassador for the Palestinian territories, who will also serve as consul general in Jerusalem, a post announced at a time of speculation about a possible normalization of relations between this country and Israel.
The position will be assumed by Nayef al-Sudairi, current ambassador to Jordan, as published on social networks, and confirmed by an official from the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
This nomination represents “an important step,” Sudairi said in a video broadcast by Saudi public television Al Ekhbariya.
The diplomat stressed the will of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to “strengthen relations with the brothers of the State of Palestine and give them formal support in all aspects,” the AFP news agency reported.
Until now, matters related to the Palestinian territories were handled from the embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and has not signed the US-brokered 2020 Abraham Accords, which allowed the State of Israel to normalize its relations with the kingdom’s two neighboring states: the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Despite this, it announced in July 2022 the opening of its airspace to “all carriers”, including Israelis, although it denied that this measure was a “precursor” to other steps towards normalization.
Saudi Arabia has stated on numerous occasions that it shares the position of the Arab League, which has not changed for several decades, and which consists in not reestablishing official diplomatic relations with Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.
Source: Ambito
