Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir
Photo: Reuters
Saudi FM: Trump serious on Mid-East peace
Al-Jubeir says in interview Trump peace plan 'not yet finalized', administration still consulting with all parties, including Saudi Arabia, but president is serious; Trump will present plan in early 2018, US officials say; denying reports on relations with Israel, FM says ties will commence only following peace with Palestinians.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said President Donald Trump's administration was serious about achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians, despite the fact work on putting together a plan to do so was still in progress.
Concerning the "deal of the century" to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, al-Jubeir—former Saudi Ambassador to the US—said in an interview to France 24 the American administration was "working on ideas and consulting with all parties, including Saudi Arabia, about those ideas and incorporating the views presented to them by everybody. They have said they need a little more time in order to put it all together and present it as a plan for moving forward."
Trump's announcement last week on officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and his intention to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem drew the ire of Palestinians as well as the Arab world in general.
Saudi FM al-Jubeir said the Trump administration's peace plan was not yet finalized (Photo: Reuters)
Trump's statement contravened decades of US and international policy maintaining Jerusalem's status will only be decided in negotiations between the parties.
According to Trump's negotiations team, headed by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the plan the Saudi foreign minister was commenting on will be published in the beginning of 2018. Moreover, al-Jubeir stressed in the interview Riyadh also supported the two-state solution as it was presented by the Trump administration.
"Whether what the administration proposes is acceptable to the parties remains to be seen, because I don't believe that the plan the US administration is working on has been finalized yet," the minister noted.
Echoing his stance in an interview given last month, al-Jubeir once again denied the Saudi kingdom had any relations with Israel, despite their mutual concern with Iran and its entrenchment in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. Al-Jubeir also reiterated the Saudi position in saying his country was willing to commence diplomatic relations with Israel, but only if the Jewish state signed a full peace agreement with its Palestinian neighbors.
Minister Katz said the Saudi royals needed to receive PM Netanyahu in Riyadh
Staying on the topic of possible Israel-Saudi relations, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz called Wednesday on Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to visit Israel, and "to welcome the prime minister in Riyadh in order to advance the regional peace process."
Speaking in an interview with the online Saudi newspaper Elaph, Katz also urged Saudi Arabia to take the lead in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, but his comments on the matter were omitted.
According to the article’s author, the decision to erase the quote was entirely editorial, rather than political.
Other senior Israeli officials, including IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, have also been interviewed by the newspaper.
