RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it 
will not normalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is 
established, after Israel's prime minister said he thought normalisation with 
the Gulf kingdom was "going to happen".

"Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an 
independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and will 
not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the Saudi 
foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

The "unwavering position" of the Gulf kingdom "is non-negotiable and not 
subject to compromises."

Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have seen 
diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a major foreign 
policy goal.

Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and 
hardened its rhetoric as the war continued.

The foreign ministry's statement came swiftly after Israeli Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu said establishing formal relations "is not only feasible, 
I think it's going to happen".

Netanyahu's hard-right government is firmly opposed to a two-state solution 
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict long supported by the international 
community.

Netanyahu was speaking at the White House alongside Trump, whose 
administration in 2020 brokered accords which saw Israel establish relations 
with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.

That raised hopes of a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's 
richest economy and guardian of Islam's two holiest sites.

Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel, but since 2020 has been negotiating a 
rapprochement in exchange for a US defence pact and US help with a civil 
nuclear programme.

Trump proposed late Tuesday that the United States take over the Gaza Strip 
and resettle its more than two million Palestinian inhabitants in Egypt or 
Jordan.

"Saudi Arabia also reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on 
the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli 
settlement policies, land annexation or attempts to displace the Palestinian 
people from their land," the foreign ministry said.