At a meeting with Jewish leaders, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman criticized the Palestinian leadership for rejecting opportunities to make peace with Israel. According to the prince, the Palestinians should either start accepting peace proposals or “shut up.”
“For the past 40 years, the Palestinian leadership has missed opportunities again and again, and rejected all the offers it was given,” bin Salman was reported as saying. “It’s about time that the Palestinians accept the offers and agree to come to the negotiating table — or they should shut up and stop complaining.”
Israel’s Channel 10 News quoted multiple sources regarding the prince’s remarks. Audience members were reportedly “staggered” by the strength of bin Salman’s criticism of the Palestinians.
The prince acknowledged the right of Israelis to their own land but he also stressed that much progress toward an Israeli-Palestinian accord would have to be made before the Arab nations could deepen their relationships with Israel. “There needs to be significant progress toward an agreement with the Palestinians before it will be possible to advance negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Arab world and Israel,” he was quoted as saying.
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