On Thursday, the Atlantic published excerpts from a lengthy interview with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (commonly known as MBS). According to the transcript published by the Saudi Press Agency, the crown prince stated that “We don’t look at Israel as an enemy. We look to it as a potential ally, with many interests that we can pursue together.” Nonetheless, he seemed to insist that the Israel-Palestinian conflict would have to be resolved before that could happen. Yoni Ben Menachem analyzes MBS’s comments about Israel and about Iran, and seeks to put them in context:
This is the first time the Saudi crown prince has publicly referred to Israel as a “potential ally.” He also spoke about Iran in a different tone. In an Atlantic interview four years ago, bin Salman compared Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “Hitler” and said Iran was leading the “axis of evil.” This time such talk was replaced by calling the Iranians “neighbors” of Saudi Arabia. . . . Since the nuclear talks began in Vienna, Saudi Arabia has been very cautious in its statements about its Shiite rival, Iran.
Mohammad bin Salman is the “strongman” in Saudi Arabia, already wielding major security and diplomatic power, and he is apparently on track to become the next Saudi king. This only underlines the importance of what he says about Israel and how he views it as a “potential ally” of Saudi Arabia against Shiite Iran, though he did not say that explicitly.
MBS sees Israel as an ally of Saudi Arabia, but so long as his elderly father, King Salman, is alive, it is hard for him to deviate from the traditional Saudi line on Israel. At the same time, calling Israel a “potential ally” is undoubtedly a further positive step in preparing Arab hearts and minds for normalization with Israel, especially when done on the eve of a renewed nuclear deal with Iran in Vienna.
What, then, explains MBS’s tepid rhetoric about the Islamic Republic? The crown prince knows he is in a bad odor with the current administration, and is likely unwilling to antagonize it further with any statements that might come across as critical of its Iran policy.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/the-saudi-crown-princes-messages-to-israel-and-iran