Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia on Saturday named a non-resident ambassador for the Palestinian Territories who will also serve as consul general in Jerusalem, a new position announced amid speculation about possible future ties with Israel.
The role will be filled by Nayef al-Sudairi, the current ambassador to Jordan, according to a social media post from the embassy in Amman confirmed by a Saudi foreign ministry official.
The appointment represents “an important step” underscoring the desire of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “to strengthen relations with the brothers of the State of Palestine and give it a formal boost in all areas”, Sudairi said in a video broadcast by the Saudi state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel.
The file for the Palestinian Territories has traditionally been handled by Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Amman.
Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw the Jewish state establish ties with two of the kingdom’s neighbors, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
But during US President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle East last year, the Saudi civil aviation authority announced it was lifting overflight restrictions on “all carriers”, paving the way for Israeli planes to use Saudi airspace.
The kingdom denied at the time that the move was “a precursor to any further steps” towards normalization.
Riyadh has repeatedly said it would stick to the decades-old Arab League position of not establishing official ties with Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.
Yet in recent months Riyadh and Washington have held talks on Saudi conditions for progress on normalization, including security guarantees and assistance with a civilian nuclear program with uranium enrichment capacity, according to people briefed on the meetings.