Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January that, while he does not personally prioritize the Palestinian issue, it holds significant importance for the Saudi people, according to a report by The Atlantic.
"Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do," he reportedly said during a meeting in Al-Ula, a remote oasis in Saudi Arabia, as part of American efforts to address the ongoing war in Gaza and negotiate the release of Israeli hostages.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman
(Photo: US State Department)
The crown prince explained that with 70% of Saudi Arabia’s population being young, the Gaza war marked the first time many of them were exposed to the Palestinian issue. During the meeting, Blinken sought to revive talks on Saudi-Israeli normalization, which had stalled after the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent war. When asked what it would take to resume progress, the crown prince responded, "calm in Gaza."
According to the report, Blinken also inquired whether Saudi Arabia would tolerate Israeli operations in Gaza to dismantle terrorist infrastructure. Bin Salman reportedly replied that such incursions might be acceptable "in six months or a year," but stressed they could not be tied to any cease-fire agreement.
A Saudi official later suggested that the details of the crown prince's comments in The Atlantic report were inaccurate but did not deny the overall substance of the remarks.