WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia had not made demands for a Palestinian state during his Oval Office meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Previously, Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post they feared Netanyahu would be willing to end the war in Gaza and delay annexation of the West Bank in favor of advancing a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
The officials, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, feared that the prime minister would use a delay in annexation as a compromise in an attempt to sway Riyadh from demanding a pathway to a Palestinian state.
However, Trump told reporters that no such demands have been made by the Saudis.
In their meeting, the president pushed to relocate Gazans, telling the Post that Jordan and Egypt wouldn’t tell him no.
“They won’t tell me no. I want to remove all the residents of Gaza,” he responded. “It will happen.”
Trump stated additional countries could also take in Gazan refugees, telling the Post that Muslim countries “won’t refuse me.” He added, “Approximately 1.8 million people [in Gaza], and they can all live somewhere where they will have great lives without fearing for their lives every day.”
Netanyahu said he was committed to peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia at a joint press conference with the president following their Oval Office meeting.
“I think peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen,” Netanyahu told reporters in Washington.
“I’m committed to achieving it. I know the president is committed to achieving it, and I think the Saudi leadership is interested to achieve it. So we’ll give it a good shot, and I think we’ll succeed,” he said.
Trump said at the press conference that the US would take over the Gaza Strip after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically.
However, Saudi Arabia will not establish ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, reaffirming that the kingdom’s stance is firm and unwavering.
Saudi Arabia rejects Gazan relocation
Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land, it said, adding that its stance towards the Palestinians is not negotiable.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement said.
Any proposed displacement of Palestinians is a highly sensitive matter for both Palestinians and Arab countries.
The United States had led months of diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful and influential Arab states, to normalize ties with Israel and recognize the country. But the Israel-Hamas War led Riyadh to shelve the matter in the face of Arab anger over Israel’s offensive.
Trump would like Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of countries like the United Arab Emirates, a Middle East trade and business hub, and Bahrain which signed the Abraham Accords in 2020 and normalized ties with Israel.
In doing so, they became the first Arab states in a quarter century to break a longstanding taboo.
Establishing ties with Saudi Arabia would be a great win for Israel due to the kingdom’s vast influence in the Middle East, the wider Muslim world, and as the world’s biggest oil exporter.