As Israel is optimistically speaking about normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom once again strongly condemned Netanyahu’s government for provocative practices carried out at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to a report by the Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia strongly rebuked the Netanyahu government in Israel for the increase in mal behavior by a group of extremists at Al-Aqsa Mosque who are under the protection of Israeli forces.
As the report noted, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry issued a harsh statement this Sunday in which it expressed grave concerns over what it described as “provocative practices carried out by Israeli authorities that undermine international peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms regarding respecting religious sanctities”.
The ministry also reaffirmed in the statement Saudi Arabia’s firm position in supporting the people of Palestinian and all efforts that are directed towards ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports every effort in line with the ending of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and achieving a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, enabling the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
Back in June 1967, and in a war that was later called ‘the Six-Day War, Israel invaded Palestine and Syrai and captured by force many areas including the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and Golan Heights, Since then, the Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.
Iran is also normalizing ties with Arab states
Saudi Arabia’s unwillingness to restore ties with Israel is only the tip of the iceberg and the Netanyahu government has many more serious challenges in the path of normalization of its relations with Arab states. One very bold problem for Israel in this regard is that Iran, too, is currently moving quite well in normalizing ties with Arab states.
Thanks to China as a mediator, Iran and Saudi Arabia now have completely restored diplomatic ties since a few weeks ago. But that’s not all; When Iran and Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic relations, the fallout spread beyond them, with several Arab nations also severing ties with Tehran, along with some African states that bet on the kingdom.
The Tehran-Riyadh restoration of ties led to more contact between Iran and Arab neighbors, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meeting with Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this Thursday.
Djibouti, Sudan and the Maldives, who were some of the countries that distanced themselves from Iran in support of Riyadh, are now opening arms to the Islamic Republic, which is not at all good news for Israel.
Israel normalizations efforts will fail, Iran’s President said
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that US-sponsored efforts to normalize Israeli relations with Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, “will see no success”.
Israel has moved closer to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco following a US-driven diplomatic initiative in 2020 which pushed for normalization of relations and was known as the Abraham Accords. But as mentioned above, Iran has also been quite active in getting closer to the same states in the past few months.
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