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Palestinian Presidency to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Laud the ‘Historic’ Saudi Position

A street in Rafa crowded with displaced Palestinians (AFP)
A street in Rafa crowded with displaced Palestinians (AFP)
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Palestinian Presidency to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Laud the ‘Historic’ Saudi Position

A street in Rafa crowded with displaced Palestinians (AFP)
A street in Rafa crowded with displaced Palestinians (AFP)

The Palestinian presidency hailed Saudi Arabia’s supporting position and welcomed the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry calling for the recognition of a Palestinian State.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the Palestinian leadership is confident in Saudi Arabia and its “historic decisions,” announcing that the two sides continue to communicate and coordinate efforts regarding the current developments, namely to stop the aggression in Gaza.
Abu Rudeineh told Asharq Al-Awsat that the efforts aim to deal with the repercussions and find political solutions based on the Arab Peace Initiative and Security Council resolutions that affirm the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He stressed that the Palestinian Authority welcomed the Saudi public position issued on Wednesday.
The spokesman noted that the Saudi leadership has always emphasized the Palestinian rights, and Riyadh has never hesitated in supporting the Palestinian cause, “we have confidence in Riyadh and its positions”, he stated.
Abu Rudeineh praised Saudi Arabia’s “precise” and clear position, emphasizing the priority of establishing a Palestinian state before establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.
Riyadh has always emphasized its position regarding the Palestinian cause since it issued the Arab Peace Initiative, which is considered the most valuable thing, and it is the only way to establish a Palestinian state, said Abu Rudeineh.
He explained that the Palestinian Authority consistently reiterated this position with world leaders, most recently during the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah.
Abbas stressed the need to stop the aggression against Gaza and establish a Palestinian state and praised Saudi Arabia’s positions.
Abu Rudeineh expressed the Palestinians’ reassurance of the Saudi position regarding Riyadh’s efforts at the Arab and international levels.
- Riyadh meeting
Meanwhile, Riyadh hosted a consultative ministerial meeting Thursday and discussed the regional developments, most notably in Gaza Strip and its surroundings, and the efforts made to deal with the security and humanitarian repercussions.
The Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry participated in the Arab ministerial meeting.
The meeting was attended by Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, and Palestine’s Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Minister of Civil Affairs of Palestine Hussein al-Sheikh.
- Bin Farhan, Blinken
Furthermore, on Thursday, Prince Faisal received a phone call from Blinken. They discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

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Crisis in French-Algerian Relations Opens the Door to the Unknown

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron (Algerian Presidency)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron (Algerian Presidency)
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Crisis in French-Algerian Relations Opens the Door to the Unknown

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron (Algerian Presidency)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and French President Emmanuel Macron (Algerian Presidency)

Three questions are raised by the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron to adopt the Moroccan approach to the Sahara issue, which is included in the Rabat Plan proposed in 2007: the first is the timing, the second is the reasons and motivations, and the third is the consequences and results.
Macron, along with French diplomacy, are aware of how sensitive the Sahara issue is to Algeria, and they know that the Algerian side will not be able to absorb the radical change in the French position.
French political sources said that the French president wanted to achieve two goals: the first is to take advantage of the occasion of Morocco’s celebration of the ascension of King Mohammed VI to the throne “to offer him a diplomatic and political gift in a file that the latter had made a compass for his country’s foreign policy.” Macron went further than Spain when it largely adopted the Moroccan solution plan in 2022.

The second reason for the timing of Macron’s initiative is linked, according to the political sources, to the internal political situation in France, where the government has resigned, parliament is on vacation and the country is busy with the Olympics.
It is likely that Macron wanted to benefit from the current institutional “vacuum” before forming a new government, which may have a different approach to the Sahara issue, despite the fact that the French Constitution entrusts the President of the Republic with drawing up the country’s foreign and defense policy.
Press reports revealed that French diplomats began working on the new approach in the spring of 2023, and that many meetings were held between diplomatic officials from the two sides.
These reports also referred to the pressure exerted by Moroccan diplomacy on France, and one of the arguments, according to French “L’Opinion”, was to remind Paris that former President Jacques Chirac, who was a great friend of Morocco, was the one who called on Rabat, since 2003, to present its autonomy plan, in order to bypass a Sahrawi referendum that would decide on the fate of the Sahara.
L'Opinion pointed to another factor: the departure of Bernard Emie, the former ambassador to Algeria and director of French foreign intelligence, from the scene last spring. Emie was one of the strongest advocates for the establishment of a special relationship between Paris and Algeria, and his absence left the door open for those who continued to assert that Algeria did not respond to the initiatives of Macron, who during the past three years made major efforts to close the controversial files with Algiers.
Another French political source added that Paris saw today that Algeria’s ability to influence its immediate surroundings, especially in the Sahel region, has declined significantly after its dispute with two neighboring countries, Mali and Niger. On the other hand, Morocco’s return to the African Union could constitute a “platform” for joint French-Moroccan action at the political, economic, and investment levels.
Politics cannot be separated from economic, trade and investment interests. France has major interests in Morocco, which may have played some role in pushing the French authorities to change their approach, and causing a “heavy” crisis with Algeria.
In response to Algeria’s decision to immediately withdraw its ambassador to Paris, Said Makousi, a French diplomatic source said that France “took note of Algeria’s decision, which is a sovereign decision.”
He added: “We are determined to strengthen our bilateral relations with Algeria; we look to the future, and our great ambition is to work for the benefit of our two peoples.”