Palestinian statehood key to Israel ties: MBS

Says can prepare right situation as soon as possible

WASHINGTON:

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Tuesday that his kingdom wanted to normalize relations with Israel through US President Donald Trump's Abraham Accords, but first needed a "clear path" to Palestinian statehood.

"We want to be part of the Abraham Accords. But we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution," Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler said in the Oval Office alongside Trump.

"We're going to work on that, to be sure that we can prepare the right situation as soon as possible," he added.

Pressed by Trump, who said that his guest had a "very good feeling" for the Abraham accords, the prince said: "We want peace for the Israelis. We want peace for the Palestinians."

"We want them to coexist peacefully in the region, and we will do our best to reach that date."

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 became the first Arab states in decades to normalize relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, hailed by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a signature diplomatic triumph.

Saudi Arabia would be a much bigger prize due to its status as guardian of Islam's two holiest sites and its influence in the Arab and Islamic worlds.

Unlike the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that Palestinian statehood is its goal.

Netanyahu has long opposed a two-state solution, despite a lukewarm endorsement of Palestinian aspirations in a ceasefire agreement in Gaza pushed by Trump.

Netanyahu leads a coalition with far-right supporters who not only reject Palestinian statehood but want Israel to annex the West Bank.

Earlier, the US president welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House on Tuesday.

Making his first White House visit in more than seven years, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honor guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.

Talks between the two leaders are expected to advance security ties, civil nuclear cooperation and multibillion-dollar business deals with the kingdom. But there will likely be no major breakthrough on Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel, despite pressure from Trump for such a landmark move.

The meeting underscores a key relationship — between the world's biggest economy and the top oil exporter — that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the international uproar around the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, has gradually faded.