MBS says Israelis have right to their own land

Monitoring Desk

RIYADH: Saudi crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman said Israelis have the right to live peacefully on their own land and given another positive sign of ties between the two countries.

Saudi crown prince said this while giving interview to US Magazine. Responding to a question, he said that he believed that the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.

He reiterated that Saudis have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people.

Saudi Arabia — the birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines — does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.