In contradiction to statements by President Joe Biden, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Farhan bin Faisal denied that the kingdom’s decision to open its airspace to all Israeli flights was a step toward normalizing ties with Israel.
In a press briefing on Saturday following Biden’s visit, Prince Faisal said that the overflights “have nothing to do with diplomatic ties with Israel,” adding that the kingdom is allowing Israeli overflights to connect countries in the world and make travelers’ lives easier. “But it’s not in any way a precursor to any further steps,” he stressed.
He also said there was no discussion at the summit of any military cooperation with Israel or a so-called “Arab NATO.”
“There is no discussion about a defensive alliance with Israel,” he asserted.
President Biden called the overflights decisions a “big deal, not only symbolically but substantively.”
“This is the first tangible step on the path of what I hope will eventually be a broader normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” he said on Friday night after meeting with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
This guy sounds like an American Democrat. I said what I didn’t say and I didn’t say what I said. I intend to keep my word but my word wasn’t clearly my intention!
MBS (mostly bull stuff?) is a lying liar. His statements are not worth the paper they are not printed on.