These Key U.S., Saudi Diplomats Say Normalization With Israel Is Still On Course

Princess Reema bin Bandar Al-Saud attends a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (not pictured) and other policy makers and advisors in New York City on September 19, 2023, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. (Photo by CAITLIN OCHS / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CAITLIN OCHS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CC) - According to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid bin Bandar, ambassador to the UK, a normalization deal between Saudi and Israel is still very possible.

It depends on one major condition: the establishment of an independent State of Palestine.

“Absolutely there’s interest, there’s been interest since 1982 and before,” Prince Bandar said on Tuesday in an interview with the BBC as reported by CNN.

“We’ve been at this for a long time and willing to accept Israel for a long time. It’s a reality that’s there that we have to live with. But we can’t live with Israel without a Palestinian state.”

Blinken agreed with the Saudi royal, stating that Israel will only integrate fully in the Middle East by incorporating a “regional approach that includes the pathway to a Palestinian state.”

Nations “are ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence and ensures Israel’s security,” the US envoy said after traveling in the Middle East last week.

“These goals are attainable, but only if they are pursued together. This crisis has clarified that you can’t have one without the other, and you can’t achieve either goal without an integrated, regional approach,” Blinken added.

Israel and Saudi Arabia were reportedly very close to signing a normalization deal mediated by the US before the Israel-Hamas war started.

Prince bin Bandar revealed “the discussions had been going on for quite some time. I’m not at liberty to go into the details of what was discussed, but it was close, there was no question.”

He further said that for Riyadh, “the final endpoint definitely included nothing less than an independent state of Palestine. And while we still — going forward, even after October 7 — believe in normalization, it does not come at the cost of the Palestinian people.”