Saudis pivot from seeking peace with Israel to trying to contain war
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA- Over the past few days, Saudi Arabia has experienced a diplomatic whiplash.
Before Saturday morning, the kingdom was riding high on good vibes and good publicity: It was nearing a historic normalization agreement with Israel that would have opened up economic and political ties, given it a formal security arrangement with America, and boosted its civilian nuclear program.
But within hours of Hamas’ bloody assault on Israel, Saudi Arabia found itself condemning massacres, urging restraint, pledging undying support for the Palestinians, and frantically trying to mediate one of the most intractable – and suddenly most volatile – conflicts in the Middle East.
On Thursday, in the first such contact between Saudi leadership and an Iranian leader in a decade, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman even spoke with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to “discuss the current military escalation in Gaza and its surroundings,” according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The contact with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, an outspoken ally and supporter of Hamas, underscored the kingdom’s commitment to “communicate with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation” and its “rejection of targeting of civilians in any way,” the state-run SPA said.
In the call, the crown prince “stressed the kingdom’s unwavering stance in standing up for the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees Palestinians’ legitimate rights,” the agency said.
Diplomatic sources say the Saudis have reached out to Israel but have not received a reply.
Saudi Arabia’s hands-on role in trying to de-escalate war between Israel and Hamas poses a critical test of the crown prince’s newly articulated diplomacy-first philosophy. A wider war would threaten both the kingdom’s economic success story at home as well as its vision of a pragmatic region that puts prosperity ahead of old enmities.
As intensified shelling on a besieged Gaza and an impending Israeli ground invasion sour the Saudi public’s mood on the prospects of cooperation with Israel, Riyadh hopes it can both achieve peace and keep the normalization deal alive.
Every day, that challenge intensifies. As of Thursday, Palestinian officials say 1,417 people have been killed by Israeli missile strikes in Gaza, including 447 children. Israel puts its own death toll above 1,300, mostly civilians.
Diplomatic flurry
Saudi Arabia had long used its position as custodian of two of Islam’s holiest sites and the world’s largest oil producer to push for concessions for Palestinians and to pitch peace plans, including the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offered normalized Arab-Israeli ties in exchange for Palestinian statehood.
Yet Riyadh often kept the conflict and day-to-day diplomacy with Palestinians at arm’s length – allowing Egypt and Jordan, states with peace deals with Israel, to do the heavy lifting.
This week, Saudi Arabia too is working the phones.
Last weekend, the crown prince called to discuss developments and coordinate with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, has been coordinating with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is now in the region, and European and Gulf diplomats.
According to the SPA, the crown prince expressed to the leaders the “kingdom’s unwavering commitment to supporting the Palestinian people in their pursuit of legitimate rights, a dignified life, and the achievement of a just and lasting peace.”
The kingdom has “urged both sides to use restraint” and called on “the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law,” SPA reported.
The new Saudi diplomacy has also meant a flurry of activity for the kingdom’s fresh nonresident envoy to the Palestinians, Nayef al-Sudairi, who only two weeks ago had traveled to Ramallah to present his credentials, the first official Saudi visit to the West Bank in 56 years.
In an attempt to mediate with all sides, according to Arab diplomatic sources, Saudi Arabia has also sent communications to Israel urging restraint in its response to Hamas’ attacks and to avoid a costly ground invasion in Gaza, which it warns would further inflame the region.
According to Arab diplomats, Saudi Arabia has attempted to use as leverage the danger that a prolonged war would galvanize anti-Israel sentiment and kill the Saudi-Israeli normalization talks. Riyadh has reportedly been frustrated by Israel’s lack of response.
“The crown prince and the kingdom are using their good relations with all parties to prevent military escalations from going further and to prevent more human suffering,” says a Saudi official who was not authorized to speak to the press.
However, Saudi Arabia will not completely abandon normalization as, under “the right conditions,” it remains in Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategic interests, the source adds.
Yet de-escalation and Israeli concessions to the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ rival, are now viewed as critical to keep the rapprochement agreement alive, the source says…..CONTINUE READING AT THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR