Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly expressed fears about his potential ‘assassination’ due to his pursuit of a normalisation agreement with Israel.
Crown Prince’s concerns came during a discussion with members of the US Congress, according to a report published on Wednesday, August 14, by American online news magazine Politico.
The Saudi royal has reportedly mentioned to members of Congress that he’s “putting his life in danger by pursuing a grand bargain with the US and Israel that includes normalizing Saudi-Israeli ties,” the report stated.
The Saudi Crown Prince compared his situation to that of Anwar Sadat, the former Egyptian President assassinated in 1981 after signing a peace agreement with Israel.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s concerns are linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has heightened regional tensions, particularly following the recent Gaza war.
He has emphasised that any peace agreement must include a genuine road to a Palestinian state, warning that failing to address this problem would jeopardise his status as guardian of Islam’s holiest sites and further destabilise the region.
“The way he put it was, ‘Saudis care very deeply about this, and the street throughout the Middle East cares deeply about this, and my tenure as the keeper of the holy sites of Islam will not be secure if I don’t address what is the most pressing issue of justice in our region,’” one source familiar with the matter tells Politico.
Despite the dangers, the Saudi Crown Prince is determined to proceed with the peace process, as it is crucial for Saudi Arabia’s future.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently rejected the idea of a future Palestinian state, making any such agreement a challenging prospect.
On July 18, the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state, citing it as an existential threat.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region,” the resolution stated.