Policy papers and recommendations
/ Saudi Arabia
The Saudi official stance has always called for a Palestinian state that will live in peace with Israel on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
While the Saudi ruling elite have consistently supported the two-state solution, they have shown pragmatism about how to get there. This flexibility in the Saudi position has been misunderstood in Israel and interpreted as a sort of Saudi disregard for the Palestinian issue. Rather, historical Saudi pragmatism towards a Palestinian state was intended to create more space for negotiations, enabling both Palestinian and Israeli parties to reach a settlement.
Efforts to assert that the Saudis will simply forgo the Palestinian issue are not just wishful thinking but also a waste of time. Saudi Arabia has not only expressed its stance, but also acted upon it, most notably by presenting the Saudi Initiative – later the Arab Peace Initiative – which the Saudi ruling elite have still not forgone. This paper explains why a Palestinian State is a necessity for Saudi Arabia and examines Saudi Arabia’s current and potential role in advancing the implementation of the two-state solution.
