Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed envoy, the first ambassador, to Palestine has presented his credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Nayef al-Sudairi and his accompanying delegation arrived in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday through the Karama crossing from Jordan on a two-day official visit that will end on Wednesday.
Al-Sudairi met with President Abbas in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, as well as other senior Palestinian officials.
He is scheduled to meet Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki as well as Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier welcomed the visit of the Saudi ambassador, describing it as “a historic milestone for developing fraternal relations between the two sister countries.”
Al-Sudairi told senior Palestinian officials on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia supported the creation of a Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Last month, al-Sudairi, who served as the Saudi ambassador to Jordan, was recently appointed as the kingdom’s non-resident ambassador to Palestine and consul general in al-Quds. A copy of his credentials was presented on August 12 to Majdi al-Khalidi, diplomatic adviser to the Palestinian president, at a ceremony at the Embassy of Palestine in Amman, Jordan.
Israel back then rejected the idea of a diplomatic base in al-Quds for Saudi Arabia’s envoy. At the time, Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen said al-Sudairi could meet PA representatives in al-Quds but would have no fixed presence.
The Israeli regime claims al-Quds as its own capital, a status recognized by the United States under then-president Donald Trump in 2017 but not by other world countries. Israeli authorities bar Palestinian diplomatic activity in the city.
The Saudi ambassador’s appointment came amid reports that the Persian Gulf kingdom is considering the prospect of establishing formal diplomatic relations with Israel under US pressure.
President Joe Biden has said a deal may be on the way after a series of talks his national security adviser had with Saudi officials in Jeddah aimed at fixing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
US officials have sought for months to broker what would be anc agreement between the two apparent adversaries – through behind-the-scenes allies – but the Saudis have remained resistant so far.
Saudi Arabia seems to be reluctant toward normalization with Israel and is taking a cautious approach to any public steps that could be seen as a normalization act.
US efforts have been complicated as the Israeli regime has played down any prospect of giving significant ground to the Palestinians as part of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia had a consulate general in al-Quds, but it was closed with Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967.
