Prominent Saudi cleric gives interview to Israeli TV about normalisation
Prominent Saudi cleric gives interview to Israeli TV about normalisation
In an interview with Israeli television, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi reiterated Saudi Arabia's official stance conditioning normalisation with Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state.
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Saudi normalisation with Israel has been a topic of discussion over the past few years [Getty]
A prominent Saudi preacher gave an interview to the Israeli state-owned Kan 11 TV channel on Monday concerning normalisation of relations between Riyadh and Israel.
Ahmed bin Qassim Al-Ghamdi, the former head of the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah, said that while religious circles in Saudi Arabia are "divided over reconciliation" with Israel, any agreement to relations with Israel must "include adequate responses to Palestinian demands", echoing the official Saudi position.
Al-Ghamdi also said that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions normalisation with Israel on a withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, was "the best solution to achieve stability in the region."
🔴في أول حوار لرجل دين سعودي مع قناة إسرائيلية، قال احمد الغامدي:
— مفتاح (@keymiftah79) August 14, 2023
"هناك اختلاف من الناحية الفقهية بين علماء المسلمين حول مشروعية الصلح مع اسرائيل، ولا اعتقد ان الرأي الفقهي الممانع في الصلح سيكون له دور مؤثر في استقرار المنطقة". pic.twitter.com/0UPQx3qpli
He also added that normalisation without addressing the Palestinian issue will not end violence in the occupied territories and will not serve the interests of Israel and other countries in the region in the long term.
Over 200 Palestinians have been killed in nearly daily deadly raids by Israel on Palestinian towns and cities int the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year.
The UAE, Morocco and Bahrain normalised relations with Israel in 2020 through the US-brokered Abraham Accords, despite Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian land.
Palestinians slammed the agreements as a betrayal of their cause.
Al-Ghamdi also added that any opposition to Israeli normalisation among religious circles in the Gulf country will have no impact on stability in the region.
The cleric's comments come as Saudi Arabia appointed its Jordan envoy Nayef al-Sudairi a non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories on Saturday, a move seen by some as a step towards normalisation with Israel.
There has been much speculation that Saudi Arabia and Israel will establish relations following the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco's controversial decision to do so, and informal relations are widely believed to exist.
The US administration has been pushing for a deal between the two countries, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voicing enthusiasm for such on a number of occasions.
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