Saudi Arabia has firmly rejected pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump and reiterated that it will not formalize diplomatic ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is established.
According to an AFP report, both Trump and his successor, President Joe Biden, have encouraged Saudi Arabia to establish relations with Israel. However, on Wednesday, the Saudi foreign ministry reaffirmed its stance, stating on X (formerly Twitter) that Riyadh remains committed to the Palestinian cause and will not move forward with normalization unless East Jerusalem is recognized as the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state.
The statement came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent comments suggesting that diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia were imminent. “It is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen,” Netanyahu said during a meeting at the White House.
Saudi Arabia had previously engaged in preliminary discussions about potential ties with Israel, but those talks were put on hold following the escalation of violence in Gaza. As the conflict persisted, Riyadh took a firmer stance against normalization efforts.
Netanyahu’s government has consistently opposed the two-state solution, a position that clashes with Saudi Arabia’s long-standing support for Palestinian statehood. The push for normalization gained traction after Trump’s administration brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords, leading to diplomatic agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. These developments had raised expectations that Saudi Arabia—one of the most influential Arab nations and custodian of Islam’s holiest sites—might follow suit.
Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, Saudi Arabia has made it clear that it will not shift its position without a concrete resolution to the Palestinian issue.
