Saudi Arabia says no Israel normalisation without Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not normalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established, after Israel's prime minister said he thought normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was "going to happen".

"Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

The "unwavering position" of the Gulf kingdom "is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises."

Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have seen diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a major foreign policy goal.

Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued.

The foreign ministry's statement came swiftly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said establishing formal relations "is not only feasible, I think it's going to happen".

Netanyahu's hard-right government is firmly opposed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict long supported by the international community.

Netanyahu was speaking at the White House alongside Trump, whose administration in 2020 brokered accords which saw Israel establish relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.

That raised hopes of a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's richest economy and guardian of Islam's two holiest sites.

Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel, but since 2020 has been negotiating a rapprochement in exchange for a US defence pact and US help with a civil nuclear programme.

Trump proposed late Tuesday that the United States take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its more than two million Palestinian inhabitants in Egypt or Jordan.

"Saudi Arabia also reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land," the foreign ministry said.