Lebanese history, in all of its events and eras, may be the first and principal witness to the depth of the Saudi-Lebanese relationship. The relationship is founded in brotherhood first, before being a relationship of cooperation, coordination, support and concern for Lebanon and its people from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This support is provided with no objectives and purposes, more importantly, with no conditions or costs, as the case had been between Lebanon and regional and Arab states.
Since the period preceding Lebanon’s establishment, Saudi Arabia has been sending Lebanon support. That is true for times of peace, as well as times of war, and at Arab nd international forums. These fundamentals were reaffirmed at more than one juncture in Lebanese history and manifested in many gestures to Lebanon from the kings and leadership in the Kingdom.
Saudi policy has created a bulwark protecting the Lebanese people, especially during Israeli wars and invasions, with Riyadh leading efforts for development and reconstruction without discriminating between sects and regions, making prior conditions and demands, or interfering with the policies. Indeed, the Kingdom only aspires to achieve Lebanese consensus and only endeavors to improve its people’s living conditions and help them rise from the crises, distancing itself from conflict and siding only with Lebanon. It wants Lebanon to continue to fulfill its pioneering role in all fields throughout the region: in culture, medicine, tourism and education, and to preserve the ancient heritage that Lebanon had succeeded in maintaining until crises hit the country, threatening its political system, its fate and its sons’ dignified lives, regardless of their various political and sectarian affiliations.
At every national and fateful juncture that Lebanon has faced, the Kingdom’s presence was strong, and it strived to meet Lebanon’s need for a strong support system, older brother and trustworthy friend who the Lebanese, in all their affiliations, burdens, apprehensions and crises, even their conflicts, until the historic moment that brought the Lebanese people’s suffering from the civil war to an end.
The Kingdom sponsored and hosted the conference that culminated with the Taif Agreement, which brought the civil war to a conclusion, before continuing to provide support and standing behind the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people to rebuild the country and its institutions. Moreover, it continued to support Lebanon for years until the Lebanese succeeded in restoring their position on the Arab map, in particular, and the global map, in general, after years of devastating conflict.
Today, after Lebanon has fallen victim to crises threatening its existence as a political entity, the county seems, more than ever, in need of the friend that it had grown used to leaning on to rise up, a friend who had never let it down before. It did all of this despite the “pitfalls” and deadly errors some had made in their treatment of the Kingdom, which the Saudi leadership never met with reciprocal action. Instead, on the contrary, it continued to uphold its commitments to Lebanon and the Lebanese people, just like the 200,000 members of the Lebanese diaspora on its soil, who work in an array of fields in the country they consider their second home without hesitation, and they reaffirmed this during the latest crises.
Less than two months from the first anniversary of the massive explosion that destroyed Beirut on August 4, 2020, we cannot forget Saudi Arabia’s rush to extend a helping hand to Lebanon, mitigating the ramifications and repercussions of the catastrophe, as the Kingdom was quick to help Lebanon and provide support on all levels. From the first hours after the disaster, it provided badly needed aid, embodied in the air bridge from Riyadh to Beirut.
The Saudi response to the calamity, which left over 200 dead and thousands injured, dealt with the challenges imposed by this explosion after it destroyed the capital’s hospitals and left hundreds of thousands of Lebanese without homes. As a first batch, the Kingdom sent an aid shipment with more than 120 tons of medicines, medical and first aid equipment, tents and bags filled with basic foodstuffs.
Here, it is worth recalling that Saudi Arabia has a long history of supporting Lebanon, as the aid provided by Saudi Arabia to Lebanon between 1990 and 2015 is estimated at tens of billions of US dollars.
Saudi Arabia has never hesitated to support Lebanon at all events and international forums, including the three Paris Conferences and the CEDRE Conference held in 2019, all of which were organized to support Lebanon and revive its economy,
The core of the Kingdom’s policy on Lebanon has not changed, though its approach has shifted in the past few years. It has not and will not abandon its relationship with Lebanon, nor will it stop providing it with support. It never stopped asking officials to agree among themselves and rush to form a government capable of leading the process of saving the country from the abyss that it has slipped into so that it can work on confronting this dangerous collapse. It has done so even though it can no longer ignore the disrespect for the brotherly relations between the two Arab countries, to say nothing about regular ties between two states, that were manifested in some political forces’ positions, practices and campaigns, which the Lebanese people naturally stood against.
