Saudi Arabia said on February 5 it would not formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state was established after the Israeli prime minister remarked that he thought normalization with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen,” Report informs via South China Morning Post.
“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have backed Israel and Saudi Arabia having diplomatic relations. Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued.
