Saudi Crown Prince: Israel Has Every Right to Exist

This may seem obvious to us, but obvious things are very inobvious and controversial in this corner of the world.

From the NYT's digest of a Jeffrey Goldberg interview with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman:

"I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," Prince Mohammed told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

The establishment of formal relations, he said, would benefit both nations, and their neighbors.

"Israel is a big economy compared to their size and it's a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel -- and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan," he said.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have been semi-secret allies for years (largely against Iran), but Saudi Arabia's traditional "anti-Zionist" stance usually requires them to officially hate the "Zionist Entity." Crown Prince MBS seems to be a genuine reformer interested in reversing Saudi Arabia's close relationship with jihad, and this declaration of Israel's right to exist is a big rhetorical shift.

Meanwhile: Have the Palestinians outlived their usefulness to the Arab states?

posted by Ace of Spades at 04:44 PM

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