“Earlier on Tuesday in a separate meeting with Abbas, Saudi King Salman made a similar remark, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Salman said Saudi Arabia “permanently stands with Palestine and the brotherly Palestinian people’s right to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” SPA reported.”…
“However, Abbas’s meetings with the Saudi rulers came two days after Axios reported that an internal Israeli Foreign Ministry document had concluded that Riyadh would not back the peace plan or normalize ties with Israel unless the Jewish state makes “a substantive concession to the Palestinians.” The Axios report cited officials who read the Foreign Ministry paper.”
“The report also said the document stated that Salman had taken back responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict file from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and realigned Saudi policy on the issue with the Arab Peace Initiative. Prince Mohammed reportedly has previously pressured Abbas to accept the Trump administration’s nascent peace plan.” (more…)