Saudi official meets Palestinians as diplomats step up talks on regional accord

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Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to the Palestinian Authority has made his first visit to the occupied West Bank, amid a US-led effort to broker a complex deal that would normalise Riyadh’s ties with Israel.

In a sign of the accelerating diplomatic activity, Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi’s appearance in the West Bank coincided with the first official trip to Saudi Arabia by an Israeli minister, as tourism minister Haim Katz arrived in the Gulf state to participate in a UN conference.

The twin visits on Tuesday came as US and Saudi officials try to negotiate the framework of a deal that could reshape Middle East geopolitics, with the kingdom establishing relations with Israel in exchange for US defence guarantees and support for a civilian nuclear programme.

As part of any potential deal, Saudi Arabia has also indicated it will expect Israel to make significant concessions to the Palestinians. Last month it appointed Sudairi as its first non-resident ambassador to the Palestinians.

Sudairi stressed during his visit to the West Bank — which Palestinians seek as the heart of a future state, but which Israel has occupied since 1967 — that the Palestinian cause was important to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and reiterated the kingdom’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The Arab peace initiative, which Saudi Arabia presented in 2002, is a fundamental pillar of any upcoming agreement,” Sudairi said.

Widely regarded as one of the leaders of the Sunni Muslim world, and home to Islam’s two holiest sites, Saudi Arabia refused to join several other Arab states, including the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, when they normalised relations with Israel in 2020.

Saudi officials said at the time that they would demand bigger concessions, both from the US and Israel, in return for a deal that could help pave the way for other Arab and Muslim states to normalise relations with Israel.

In recent months, talks over such a deal have gained momentum, but officials caution there are still numerous hurdles that must be overcome before any agreement can be reached.

Among the thorniest questions are whether Israel’s far-right government, in which ultranationalists hold key posts, would sign off on any meaningful concessions to the Palestinians, and whether the US would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium for its putative nuclear programme.

Palestinian officials want a freeze on Israeli settlement expansion, and control of more of the West Bank. They are also seeking a resumption of Saudi financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, and US support for full membership of the UN, where they currently have observer status, said people familiar with the situation.

An Israeli official previously told the Financial Times that both settlement freezes and territorial concessions to the Palestinians were unlikely with the current far-right government in office.

In an interview with Fox News last week, Prince Mohammed said Israel would need to provide concessions for the Palestinians. Privately however, Saudi officials have said the Palestinian leadership would also need to temper its demands in order to find a common ground with Israel.