Israel ruled out on Sunday, August 13, 2023, the possibility of diplomatic representation in Jerusalem for Palestine by the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Jordan.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairi has expanded his credentials to include consul general in Jerusalem and Palestine.
This announcement comes to cover the long-lasting demand of the Palestinians to establish a state in territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel considers Jerusalem its capital, a status recognized by the United States under the then-President Donald Trump in 2017, but not by other world powers. Israeli authorities prohibit Palestinian diplomatic activity in Jerusalem.
Saudi Arabia has supported the Palestinian cause and avoided formal ties with Israel, but the US is seeking to push through a historic Middle East deal that would include normalizing Israeli-Saudi relations.
Israel’s government has played down any prospect of giving significant land to the Palestinians as part of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh had previously made recognition of Israel conditional on achieving the Palestinian goal of statehood.
