Why was Salman silent? He is not talking about the Gaza war

Resolution/Germany

In fact, the Gaza crisis provides opportunities for Mohammed bin Salman to gain significant power and prestige in the Middle East. Salman can present himself as a protector of the Palestinians, ensure the exit of the wounded in Gaza, and reduce or even end the suffering in Gaza by activating his relations with the United States and Israel. But Prince Mohammed bin Salman does none of this.

Mohammed bin Salman will bring a new dynamism to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, as he pioneers technology investments and seeks to build a secular future against severe Wahhabi repression. The most important pillars of this step are peace and cooperation with Israel.

There is intense anger in Arab countries against Israeli attacks, and in these circumstances, Mohammed bin Salman is staying away from moves that would jeopardize Israeli peace, which he has postponed for the time being. Saudi Arabia and many Arab countries have always considered the Palestinian issue to be the primary issue, but they have not taken any step beyond heroism because of their loyalty to the United States, Israel’s direct sponsor.

The meetings began without conditions

On the other hand, Mohammed bin Salman was ready to start relations with Israel without requiring a two-state solution and a return to the pre-1967 borders. The United States acted as a mediator between the two countries, and the two countries will begin negotiations to normalize relations starting in 2024. But October 7 changed everything, and it returned. The problem of Palestine, which was almost forgotten, has resurfaced. No Arab leader is in a position to risk rapprochement with Israel, even if he wanted to.

Mohammed bin Salman cannot initiate normalization as long as the Gaza war continues, but this does not mean that the project to start relations has stopped. Mohammed bin Salman invited the leaders of Arab and Islamic countries to Riyadh on November 11, but it was not possible to take a joint decision to impose sanctions at this meeting other than to condemn Israel. Mohammed bin Salman also did not make significant efforts to impose sanctions on Israel, despite his hosting of it.

Arabs view Hamas as a threat

The truth is that the decisive feeling behind the scenes played an important role in the failure of the summit. The Gulf diplomats who attended the summit did not refrain from expressing their secret satisfaction with the Israeli attack to destroy Hamas in their background discussions. Iran’s support of weapons and ideology for Hamas for years, and Hamas’s closeness to the Muslim Brotherhood, are seen by the Gulf states as a long-term threat to them, and they want to get rid of Hamas.

Iran constantly declares that it was not aware of the attack launched by Hamas on October 7, and American intelligence agencies find this statement credible. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in a statement to the Financial Times last week that they informed the United States through the Swiss embassy in Tehran that they do not want to escalate the war between Israel and Hamas.

Mohammed bin Salman made only a few statements regarding the crisis. What Saudi Arabia is really thinking can be deduced from the speeches of former intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal. In a speech at Rice University in Houston, Faisal condemned Israel and Hamas’ attacks against civilians and said that the Hamas attack violates Islamic principles.

The only good thing about the Riyadh summit is that it was revealed that 57 countries, and not a single Muslim country, including Iran, want a major war.

Note: This article was written by Susan Quilp and was published on the Spiegel website.Why is Saudi Arabia silent about the Gaza crisis? It was compiled from an article entitled (Warum Saudi-Arabien in der Gazzakriese so schweigsam ist?).