Egypt Daily News – Former Saudi ambassador to Washington and London Prince Turki al-Faisal commented on US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, saying that it is “unassimilable” and that normalization of relations with Israel will not happen if the plan is implemented.
“What came out of Mr. Trump is not digestible,” Al-Faisal said, stressing that ”it is a fantasy to think that ethnic cleansing in the 21st century can be tolerated by a global community that remains unresponsive.”
In response to whether he believes that normalization of Saudi relations with Israel could happen after Trump’s plan, he replied: “Not at all,” adding that the Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement “rejecting what came out of Washington in recent days, and this has been Saudi Arabia’s position from the beginning.”
“Even before October 7, if you remember when Prince Mohammed spoke to one of the opposition TV channels in America, he made it clear that the path to a clear Palestinian state is what we want to see as a result of any talks we have with the Americans,” he added.
“And we don’t talk to the Israelis, we talk to the Americans. That has been a position that has been strongly maintained.”
“In various forums, whether the Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the Arab Summit, the Gulf States Summit, and all the international forums that have been held and conferences in Riyadh have emphasized the need for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.
Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who also served as Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, predicted that “there will be collective action by the Arab world, the Islamic world, the Europeans and other countries that believe in a two-state solution” to deal with this matter.
The former Saudi official emphasized that Trump says he “wants to improve things, while in reality this would turn things into more conflict and more bloodshed.”
“So if he (Trump) comes here (Saudi Arabia), I’m sure he will receive an earful from the leadership here, not only about the unlikeness of what he is proposing, but the outright injustice that is really and completely manifested in this proposal of ethnic cleansing,” he added.
Trump suggested on Tuesday that the US should take over Gaza, after earlier suggesting that Gazans should be permanently resettled elsewhere,
