Saudis could recognise Israel if Palestinian issue resolved, ceasefire needed: FM

Saudi Arabia has said it could recognise Israel if the Jewish nation reached an agreement with Palestine over statehood. Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan made the comment during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

After the October 7 terror attacks and the subsequent retaliation by Tel Aviv, Saudi Arabia had put US-backed talks on the normalisation of ties with Israel, in the cold storage.

"We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state," said Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

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Pressed if Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel as part of a wider political agreement,Prince Faisal replied in affirmative. "Certainly," he said.

The statement by the kingdom, the de-facto leader of the Arab world, could have a serious impact on the current geopolitical equations. The religious clout that the kingdom enjoys may also provide Israel the much-needed assurances if it were to end the war and engineer a solution to the Palestineproblem.

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Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation talks

Notably, Washington has been working for greater integration of Israel with the Arab world that immediately surrounds it geographically. Washington has been keen to build on the Abraham Accords which saw normalisation of ties between Israel and some Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Morocco.

On its part, the US has maintained that the normalisation process has not been abandoned. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has stated that the Biden administration'sefforts were "not on hold", butadded that the focus was now on other immediate challenges, an apparent reference to the Israel-Hamas war.

What could be the challenge?

For Israel and Saudi to come to the same table, the former needs to achieve peace with Palestine, which looks highly uncertain at this stage.

The Palestinians in Gaza want a state in territories captured by Israel in a 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as their capital. Washington attempted to mediate on this front but talks with Israel stalled more than a decade ago.

(With inputs from agencies)