KSA Announces Tendency to Open Embassy in ’Israel’!

Local Editor

Comments by a well-connected former major-general in the Saudi military who said Tuesday that Riyadh would establish an embassy in the "Israeli" entity if it accepted the 2002 "Arab Peace Initiative" failed to elicit an official response from the "Israeli" apartheid regime.

Anwar Eshki, who met publicly in June with Dore Gold just, was asked during an al-Jazeera interview how long it would be before Saudi Arabia would open an embassy in the "Israeli" entity "You can ask Mr. Netanyahu," Eshki replied. "If he announces that he accepts the initiative and gives all rights to Palestinians, Saudi Arabia will start to make an embassy in Tel Aviv."

The so-called "Israeli" Prime Minister's Office had no response.

The s-called "2002 Arab Peace Initiative" called for a two-state solution based on an "Israeli" withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines and making east al-Quds [Jerusalem] the Palestinian capital in return for "normal relations in the context of a comprehensive "peace" with "Israel"."

The initiative also called for the "achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194."

In the Arab world, that resolution is viewed as enshrining a Palestinian refugee "right of return" to places in the "Israeli"-annexed territories they or their ancestors fled from or were driven from during the 1947-1949 War of Independence.

Netanyahu articulated his position on this plan in a 2014 interview with the "Israeli" daily The Jerusalem Post, saying that the initiative was drawn up at a significantly different time in the Middle East, and is no longer relevant.

Though, he has not voiced any different position on this plan since then.

"The question is not the Saudi "peace" initiative," Bibi said, when asked if he would accept the proposal. "If you read it carefully, you'll see it was set up in another period, before the rise of Hamas; before Hamas took over Gaza; before "ISIS" took over chunks of Syria and Iraq, effectively dismantling those countries; before Iran's accelerated nuclear program."

He also said the plan, which called for an "Israeli" withdrawal to the pre- 1967 lines - including returning the Golan - was drawn up "before the takeover of Syria by al-Qaeda on the Golan Heights."

Netanyahu held a high-profile meeting of his cabinet on the Golan on April 17 and declared that the region would forever stay in "Israeli" hands, a declaration the UN Security Council rejected on Tuesday.

Eshki, in the al-Jazeera interview, deflected one of the interviewer's statements that he and Saudi government were willing to take military action in Yemen but never physically protect Palestinians in Gaza "when they are being bombed."

Later, Eshki was asked: "How do you think Palestinians feel when they hear you refer to Benjamin Netanyahu as a strong leader and a logical leader?" He answered: "I talked about a strong leader and logical leader because it does not mean strong against Arabs. I said he is strong in his country."

Prior to the public meeting with Gold in New York, Eshki held half a dozen meeting with him in various capitals.

In August, Eshki told The Wall Street Journal that "the main project between me and Dore Gold is to bring "peace" between Arab countries and "Israel". This is personal, but my government knows about the project. My government isn't against it because we need peace."

Another public meeting of representatives no longer holding formal governmental positions from the two countries is to be held next month at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, when Prince Turki al-Faisal, longtime steward of Saudi Arabia's national security establishment and former Saudi ambassador to the United States, and Yaakov Amidror, former head of the so-called "National Security Council", will speak together. The lecture title is, "Common Interests, Collective Wisdom: Confronting Challenges in The Middle East."

This meeting comes amid persistent reports of backroom "Israeli"- Saudi security cooperation forged out of common regional interests.

Two weeks ago Egypt ceded two strategic islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba - Tiran and Sanafir - to Saudi Arabia in a move that the "Israeli" entity was apprised of in advance.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team