President Trump has brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel that will see the two countries form diplomatic relations for the first time in history.
According to a Lebanese newspaper, a secret Saudi foreign ministry document details how Trump worked tirelessly with leaders from the two countries to try and make significant steps towards peace in the Middle East.
Alaraby.co.uk reports: Al-Akhbar’s report, which is signed from London, alleges the document was sent by Saudi FM Adel al-Jubeir to the powerful crown prince and de-facto king Mohammed bin Salman, who reports claimed in September had secretly visited Israel. The kingdom later denied the visit had taken place.
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The document details concessions to Israel that are certain to prove controversial in Palestine and the Arab world if true, including Saudi encouragement of the Palestinians to cede the right of return of their refugees, in return for a peace deal with Israel and closer cooperation with Tel Aviv against Iran and Hizballah.
“I have the honour to submit to you a project for establishing relations between the kingdom and the State of Israel based on the strategic partnership agreement with the United States of America, discussed with the US Secretary of State based on the guidance of your noble guidance,” opens the letter.
“Saudi Arabia…. has immense influence and diplomatic power that can give credibility to peace efforts,” the alleged letter continues.
“The kingdom had pledged in the strategic partnership agreement with US President Donald Trump that only a US-Saudi effort (for peace) is the key to success as… no solution to the Palestinian issue can be legitimate without the support of Saudi Arabia.
“Rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel carries risks… given the spiritual, historical, and religious status of the Palestinian issue. The kingdom cannot risk this move unless it feels the US is honest about its efforts against Iran, which destabilises the region.”
The peace plan: Divide Jerusalem and resettle refugees
The letter continues: “Accordingly, the kingdom proposes a peace plan based on the following:
One: Any detente between the kingdom and Israel requires equivalence between the two countries: At the military level, Israel is considered the only country with nuclear weapons in the Middle East…. accordingly, the kingdom must acquire this deterrent or seek to remove Israel’s.
Two: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall use its diplomatic abilities and political relations with the Palestinian Authority, the Arab states, and the Islamic nations to facilitate reasonable and creative solutions on contentious issues in the Arab Peace Initiative… with the US adopting creative solutions to the two main issues of Jerusalem and the refugees, as follows:
– Placing Jerusalem under international sovereignty by adopting the 1937 Peel Project and the UN partition plan of 1947 on Jerusalem.
– Saudi Arabia seeks to resettle Palestinian refugees where they are present, where the kingdom can play a positive role… by supporting creative and bold proposals, such as abolishing Arab League recommendations… not to naturalise Palestinians in any Arab country.
The Trump summit
Third: The kingdom has proposed to President Trump… reaching an agreement on the principles of a final solution, followed by a meeting of the region’s foreign ministers convened by the United States… after that, Trump calls on the region’s leaders to endorse these principles and negotiations for the final solution begin.
Fourth: Saudi Arabia can play an effective role in rallying support from others for a new age of peace and prosperity between Israel and the Arab and Islamic world.
In the early stages of normalising ties with Israel, this will not be acceptable by the public opinion in the Arab world. However, Saud Arabia believes the compatibility of Israeli technology with the economic power of the Gulf countries, the size of their markets, and Arab human potentials could unleash the latent potentials of the Middle East and achieve prosperity, stability, and peace.
The Iranian nexus
Fifth: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the longest in the region. Extremists have used it to justify its actions, and it has distracted the actors in the region from focusing on the main threat to the region, namely, Iran.
Resolving this conflict will pave the way for security, commercial, and financial cooperation against Iran. Therefore, the Saudi and Israeli sides have the following (goals) in common:
– Confronting any activities that serve the aggressive policies of Iran in the Middle East.
– Increasing US and international sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme
– Increasing sanctions over Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism around the world.
– Lobbying the 5+1 group over their position on the nuclear deal with Iran to ensure its strict implementation
– Limiting Iranian access to frozen assets, and capitalising on Iran’s economic problems to increase pressure on the regime
– Intelligence cooperation against organised crime and drug trafficking supported by Iran and Hizballah
