“All of us need Saudi Arabia”: Israeli minister to Saudi newspaper
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Israeli media suggested that the timing of the interview appears to coincide with contacts between “Israel” and Saudi Arabia to improve bilateral relations.
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Israeli Minister Esawi Frej
Jeddah-based Saudi newspaper Arab News has published a lengthy interview with Israeli Minister Esawi Frej, the first Israeli government minister to be interviewed by the English-language news outlet associated with the Saudi royal family.
Israeli media suggested that the timing of the interview appears to coincide with contacts between “Israel” and Saudi Arabia to improve bilateral relations.
"All of us need Saudi Arabia!"
In the interview, Frej said: “The Saudi leadership would be central to any solution in the future and His Royal Highness King Salman and the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman), I believe that they will play a central role in any renewed peace process in the future.”
“All of us need Saudi Arabia,” he tersely stated.
Read more: Israeli-Saudi covert normalization comes to light
Frej made the comments in light of a tripartite low-profile normalization deal between Saudi Arabia, “Israel”, and the US, which began with opening up its airspace to Israeli airlines. In exchange, “Israel” will approve the transfer of sovereignty over the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to the Saudis.
The United States, for its part, is expected to gradually lift its boycott of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Washington finds responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"Peace" is not a priority for “Israel”
When asked how optimistic he is about the prospects for "peace" in his lifetime, Frej admitted that the process is not a priority for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's coalition government, which includes Frej's own Meretz party.
“This government is a complicated government. Our policy is not there,” he stated.
All this is happening as Israeli occupation forces have considerably accelerated the killing and persecution of Palestinians, after getting a green light from Israeli senior authorities.
Al-Aqsa Mosque was not spared the aggression from Israeli forces, and was stormed numerous times, and worshippers were attacked viciously.
A normalization cheerleader
Frej, a strong supporter of the normalization agreement, believes the Palestinians made a huge mistake by refusing to join the normalization deals that swept a number of Arab countries, most notably Gulf states such as the UAE and Bahrain.
“I think the Palestinians should be part of this movement. I believe they made a mistake not to be part of the Abraham Accords because, as I said in the past, there is a blessing in movement and the Palestinians should be part of this movement,” he said.
"Israel" not an apartheid regime?
On the Israeli murder of Palestinian correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May, Frej simply brushed it off as "an error," adding that Israeli authorities still do not know "who killed Shireen" despite the torrent of international and Palestinian reports and investigations that proved the IOF's responsibility for the assassination.
In a superbly tone-deaf statement, the Israeli official added that losing Abu Akleh was a "huge mistake", but that they need to "try to think forward for the future.”
Frej also highlighted the stark division within “Israel” by saying: “We have a lot of problems. We know that we have a lot of problems, but this is a problem you cannot translate (into saying) Israel is an apartheid state”.
Read more: Israeli apartheid: Amnesty finally releases awaited report
For the longest time, Saudi Arabia claimed that it is not a supporter of normalization, citing its past support for Palestine and condemnation of Israeli violations against the Palestinian people. However, Saudi Arabia's real-world practices reveal another aspect of its relationship with "Israel," one of rapidly-emerging normalization. This shameless interview by the Saudi-owned paper is just the latest chapter of this process.
