Saudi official blasts Netanyahu for blocking Ramallah visit, says Israeli PM 'doesn’t want peace'

An unnamed Saudi official claimed on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects peace in the Middle East. 

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s behavior is improper; he is trying to protect himself because of his own interests,” the Saudi official stated. He further argued that Netanyahu prioritizes his domestic political interests at the expense of Israel’s diplomatic ties with various countries. 

“He doesn’t want peace, he only wants to make problems.”

The official, who has ties within the Saudi royal family, warned that the Israeli government’s decision to block a recent Saudi-led visit by Arab foreign ministers to Ramallah to meet Palestinian Authority (PA) officials may have potentially harmed the prospects for a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. 

On Sunday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates condemned Jerusalem for blocking the visit to the PA. In a joint statement, the Arab foreign ministers said the decision “reflects the extent of the Israeli government’s arrogance, its disregard for international law, and its continued illegitimate measures and policies that besiege the brotherly Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership.”

The Arab diplomats also argued that Jerusalem intends to perpetuate “the occupation and undermine the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud was expected to become the first Saudi top diplomat to visit Judea and Samaria (West Bank) since Israel won the territory following the Six-Day War in 1967. However, he was forced to cancel his visit after the Israeli government prevented him and the other Arab foreign ministers from arriving by helicopter from Jordan. 

“Saudi Arabia is reaching out for peace and Israel is simply pulling back,” the Saudi source claimed. 

Israel presented a different perspective to the proposed trip. A senior Israeli official informed The Times of Israel news outlet that the goal of the Arab foreign ministerial visit to the Palestinian Authority was to “promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

“Israel will not cooperate with moves designed to harm it and its security,” the Israeli official explained, stressing that Jerusalem would not permit the establishment of “a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel.”

While considered more moderate than its rival Hamas, the PA nevertheless rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. It also continues to systematically spread hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. Despite officially embracing peace, the leadership has for years promoted a controversial "pay for slay" policy, offering financial incentives to those who murder Israelis and Jews.

There are currently no official diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, Saudi Arabia reportedly supported the American-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, which led to normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Despite the lack of formal ties, Riyadh and Jerusalem have developed covert relations based on shared commercial and security interests. Saudi Arabia has even opened its airspace to commercial Israeli flights.

In September 2023, just weeks before the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) expressed optimism about the prospect of normalizing relations with the Jewish state.

“Every day we get closer,” MBS stated in a Fox News interview.

MBS has emphasized that Saudi Arabia conditions normalization with Israel on a public commitment by Jerusalem to the two-state solution. However, following the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis – the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust – neither the Israeli government nor the majority of its citizens currently support the creation of a Palestinian state, viewing it as a potential threat to national security.

Moreover, Israeli officials have told Arab and European diplomats that recognizing “Palestine” at this time would be seen as a reward for anti-Israel terrorism.

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported it had obtained documents that revealed that the purpose of the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre was to derail the normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.