Yesterday, this was widely reported:
Perhaps the most important part of this is the fact that this was published by the Saudis themselves.Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown price and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman has said that the kingdom does not look at Israel as an “enemy,” as he called for “coexistence” between Saudi Arabia and Iran.“For us, we hope that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is solved. We don't look at Israel as an enemy, we look to them as a potential ally, with many interests that we can pursue together. But we have to solve some issues before we get to that,” Bin Salman said in an interview with U.S. magazine The Atlantic, according to an English-language transcript published by the official Saudi news agency SPA.
The Atlantic article did not have this quote. The transcript came from the official Saudi news agency. Which means that the Saudis weren't playing the game of "tell the Western reporters what they want" - they went out of their way to ensure that the world saw this message that Israel and Saudi Arabia are not enemies and have a lot of similar goals.
The audience for this statement is the Arab world, the Saudi people and Iran, which he also said he desires good relations with.
Four years ago, also to the Atlantic, Mohammed bin Salman surprised the world by saying that Israelis have a right to their own land (although the question was about Jews.) Now it is taken for granted. The speed of the change has been astonishing.
Is he softening up his people for peace with Israel? Does he really think that the Palestinians will accept peace with Israel, or is he planning to give up on them? His wording leaves open the possibility of either.
