Saudi Arabia will not normalize its relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, the foreign affairs minister of this powerful Gulf monarchy said on Friday, against the backdrop of discreet calls from the Israeli state, AFP reports, Agerpres reads.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed on Thursday, alluding to Saudi Arabia, the possibility of „extending” the Abraham Accords, which formalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

„True normalization and true stability will only come by giving the Palestinians hope and dignity, which requires the creation of a state of their own,” said Faisal bin Farhan, the head of Saudi diplomacy, in a video posted on Twitter on Friday.

The main exporter of crude oil in the world and the largest Arab economy, Saudi Arabia is a very close partner of the USA, but it has always refused to normalize its relations with Israel because of the occupation and colonization by the Israeli state of the Palestinian territories, notes AFP.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories since 1967 and continues its policy of colonization with the Jewish population, a policy denounced by the UN, NGOs and the international community, including the closest partners of the Israeli state, the quoted source adds.

The White House said Thursday that Jake Sullivan had informed about Washington’s opposition to anything that would question the „viability” of a future Palestinian state. Riyadh did not oppose the Abraham Accords signed under the auspices of Washington at the end of 2020 by Israel and several Arab countries, including some in the Gulf close to Saudi Arabia, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

But Saudi Arabia has reiterated several times that respecting the rights of the Palestinians is an indispensable condition for it to sign such an agreement with the Israelis.

Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, estimates that normalization with Saudi Arabia would facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, even if the good relations with the Arab Emirates have not opened the slightest prospect for an evolution in the peace process.

Agerpres