Saudi perspective: The Palestinian issue cannot be pushed aside

I heard that Israeli media has been debating about the Saudi position regarding the way to end the war and move forward, and its obligation to the Palestinian issue. It seems that Saudi Arabia’s position is ambiguous to you. The Saudi kingdom is not easy to understand. It is not just a state but an idea, comprised of religious, tribal, and Arab identities that intersect with threat perceptions, existential strategic interests, and dynamic pragmatism. While the nature of Saudi Arabia is inherently challenging to comprehend, no one bears greater responsibility for your misunderstanding of it than your own prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. If you really want to understand Saudi Arabia’s position both with regard to normalization with Israel and on the Palestinian issue, then the best place to start is by examining Saudi discourse. As a Saudi researcher of Saudi policy toward Israel, I have confronted the complexities of Israel. The complexities of a people – and its discourses – must always be respected. This courtesy is something Netanyahu has not extended to the Saudi kingdom. Your political leadership has misled you by oversimplifying Saudi Arabia and its people – their logic, their beliefs, and their discourses. Therefore, I want to make use of the opportunity to communicate with you, the Israeli people, directly as a Saudi who genuinely seeks peace. I would like to dispel two key exaggerations that your country’s current political leadership has promoted. The Iranian issue The first has to do with the Iranian issue. Netanyahu has been promoting

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Strategies of Hope – The 7th Annual Conference of The Mitvim Institute

How can we transform the tragedy of the past year into a turning point that sparks a renewed diplomatic initiative in Israel’s relations with the Palestinians and the Arab world? The Mitvim Institute invites you to our annual conference, titled “Strategies of Hope”. Speakers include, opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid, MK Naama Lazimi, German Ambassador Steffen Seibert, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie L. Hallett, former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa, former Jordanian Foreign Minister Jawad Anani, former Egyptian Ambassador and Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Abderahman Salaheldin, Prof. Elie Podeh, Dr. Ronen Bergman, Dr. Dov Khenin, former Ambassador and MK Colette Avital, former MK Ksenia Svetlova, Hiba Qasas, Aziz Alghashian, Amira Mohamed, and Ibrahim Abu Ahmed. Watch the entire playlist of the conference.

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The Israeli Foreign Policy Index of 2024

The Mitvim Institute’s twelfth annual public opinion poll on Israeli foreign policy was conducted at the end of August. The survey was conducted by the Rafi Smith Institute in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, among a representative sample of the adult population in Israel (862 men and women, Jews and Arabs) and with a sampling error of 3.3%. Almost a year after the October 7th attack, the survey aimed to assess the public’s views on key issues concerning Israel’s foreign policy and strategy. It focused on immediate topics such as war objectives and potential exit strategies, while also exploring how the war has shaped the public’s strategic mindset on foreign policy issues. This document presents the findings of the survey, divided into five areas: Israel’s foreign relations, Israeli foreign policy, Israel and the Palestinians, Israel-United States relations, and Israel’s relations with regional actors. This year the survey included, among other things, questions about the preferred outcome of the fighting in Gaza; Israel-US relations and the upcoming presidential elections; Israel’s policy towards Hezbollah in the short term, and towards Iran in the long term; Israel’s global status following the war and the danger of becoming a “pariah state”; the future of strategic relations with Egypt; Israel’s relation with the UN and international sanctions on violent settlers; The connection between the campaign against Iran and the conflict with the Palestinians; Israel’s role in the global struggle between the US, China and Russia; the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; and the future of

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Exaggerations, Obstacles and Opportunities: The Saudi Arabian Position in the Gaza War

The paper aims to shed light on the obstacles and opportunities of Saudi involvement in a future Palestinian-Israeli peace process. It first explains the enigmatic nature of Saudi communication towards Israel and explains why Saudi pragmatism has been misunderstood. The paper also explains the rationale behind Saudi Arabia’s willingness to normalize relations with Israel, and that Saudi-Israeli normalization is treated as a gateway to a larger game-changing strategic treaty with the United States, rather than a keenness to cooperate with Israel itself. In addition, the paper argues that while the Saudi ruling elite are willing to play financial and security roles in “reconstructing” Gaza, it is unforeseeable that this will ensue without a credible peace process that can justify these efforts, especially against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia’s restructuring of its own economy. The paper then explains the ways in which Saudi Arabia, Gulf Arab states, and European states can help cooperate in areas such as building a Palestinian economic horizon that can strengthen the Palestinian-Israeli political framework; developing Palestinian-Israeli green cooperation; and developing an Arab-Israeli network of academics, experts, and journalists that can be an intersection of top-down and bottom-up projects that aim to reach a two-state solution. This publication was written as part of an extensive joint research project with PAX for Peace – Netherlands and SWP Germany titled, “Defining a Role for Europe in Leveraging Israeli-Arab Normalization Towards Israeli-Palestinian Peace”. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Mitvim Institute, SWP and PAX.

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