Saudi Arabia and Israel: Clouds on the new horizon
During Biden's visit, the Saudis repeated that mantra in demanding the two-state solution be implemented before normalizing relations with Israel. I would respectfully suggest that our two countries look over the horizon using wisdom that may appear uncommon, but which I believe stands to better serve us both.Jeddah summit proves Arabs haven't dumped the Palestinians - PA officials
Although I do see a potentially bright future with my Palestinian Arab neighbors once they truly reject terror and cease their demonization of Jews, I do not think it wise to condition regional peace agreements on their choices. Most Saudis know that the Palestinian Arabs have never been friends of the Kingdom or her citizens.
-When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, with his appetite set on the Saudi peninsula as a second course, frenzied Palestinian crowds cheered his bombing of Riyadh and lionized him as their champion against the pro-American Saudis.
-While a nuclear-minded Iran foments regional and global terror, seeks to destabilize the Saudi Kingdom via its proxy war in Yemen, and insults, threatens, and attacks the Saudi people at every opportunity, the Palestinian Arabs still side with the Ayatollahs. Both Hamas and the PLO share fealty to Iran and are strongly supported by a local Palestinian Arab populace which demonstrates little care for the welfare of the Arab states that support them.
Given these realities, why do the Saudi people continue to subordinate their core national interest to Palestinian Arabs who not only have no gratitude for their brothers’ beneficence, but would also surely cheer yet again if the Iranians were to conquer the Arabian Peninsula?
While current Saudi policy is to support the creation of ‘Palestine’, a strong case could be made for how such a development would be profoundly antithetical to essential Saudi interests. 'Palestine' would both maintain the goal of destroying Israel as well as destabilize other states in the region. This vector was always clear but was further enhanced in 2020 when Islamic Jihad proclaimed that it wished to join the PLO on the basis of jointly continuing the terror war against Israel. Going back to the brutal Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 it is clear a similar fate would befall the 'West Bank' if Israel were to leave. Although Jordan would likely be the first to suffer from a radically Islamic 'Palestine', Saudi Arabia would also be rocked by harsh seismic activity along existing regional and national political fault lines. Saudi policy demands the creation of 'Palestine', yet 'Palestine' would be no friend of the Saudis.
A Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post that the Palestinians were “more than happy” to see the Arab monarchs and heads of state reiterate their support for the Palestinians and the two-state solution.Fallout from Biden’s Visit Undermines Israel in Area C, Eastern Jerusalem
“[Egyptian] President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi emphasized in his speech that the Palestinian issue is the Arab’s number one case,” the official noted. “This is a blow to all those who have been claiming that the Arabs have abandoned the Palestinians and that the Palestinian issue was no longer at the top of the Arab world’s list of priorities.”
Likewise, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, said in a speech at the Jeddah summit that the Palestinian issue “occupies a central position among the peoples of our Arab and Islamic worlds and the forces of peace worldwide.
Another Palestinian official praised Jordan’s King Abdullah, who called in his speech for including the PA in “regional partnerships.”
Abdullah went on to reaffirm the importance of reaching a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, warning that there can be neither security, stability, nor prosperity in the region without a solution guaranteeing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines.
“The Arab leaders have again emphasized the significance of the Palestinian cause,” the official told the Post.
“The Jeddah summit has put the Palestinian cause back at the top of the Arab world’s list of priorities. It has also shown that the talk about the establishment of an Arab-Israeli security alliance is not true. We hope that the nice words we heard from the Arab leaders will be translated into deeds.”
Meanwhile, the Al Quds reported the content of the secret meeting President Biden conducted last Friday with the Arab heads of the eastern Jerusalem Hospital Network behind closed doors at the Augusta Victoria Hospital. The Biden delegation banned all Israeli officials from the meeting which lasted 25 minutes.
According to Al Quds, the network’s managers stressed to the visiting president that “Jerusalem is an occupied city and that its people are part of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip living under occupation, and they yearn for a day of salvation from it and living in freedom and dignity in the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Biden heard from Abdul Qader Faisal Al-Husseini, the hospital network’s secretary, the General Executive Director of the Insider Hospital, Dr. Fadi Al-Atrash, and the directors of Eastern Jerusalem hospitals, Dr. Adnan Farhood, Dr. Abdullah Sabri, Dr. Ahmed Maali, and Jamil Koussa. and Mrs. Violet Mubarak.
Abdul Qader expressed his hope that this visit and the statements made by the US President on the two-state solution give rise to hope and a new horizon, and said: “Our people want to end the occupation and do not want to improve life under the occupation, nor accept any forms of infidelity against the Palestinian people who yearn for freedom and independence and building their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
That’s the PA Arab bourgeoisie telling the visiting Americans they prefer to let their population continue to live in poverty rather than be disloyal to the folks in Ramallah.
One hopes Biden brought along a proficient translator.
Abdel Qader pushed this point further, declaring: “I stressed in my conversation with Secretary Blinken that the issue is not aid to the six hospitals and support for certain sectors in Jerusalem, but rather the need to stop the violations and the Israeli occupation’s Judaizing the city through the demolition of homes, the uprooting of Jerusalemites, the settlements, and the Judaization of the city, and the necessity of stopping this racist regime that targets our existence as Palestinians yearning for freedom and independence and building our state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Someone should remind President Biden real soon that US Law prohibits the division of Jerusalem. He can’t do it with a presidential executive order, he can’t do it at all.