Israel's Smotrich tells Saudi Arabia: 'Keep riding your camels in the desert'
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday that Israel should reject a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia in exchange for a Palestinian state.
"If Saudi Arabia tells us that it is normalisation in exchange for a Palestinian state, then no thank you, my friends," Smotrich said at a conference hosted by the Tzomet Institute, addressing a question on relations with Saudi Arabia
"Keep riding your camels in the Saudi desert. We'll continue to develop our economy, society, and state with all the great things we know how to do."
The statement comes as Israel's parliament passed a preliminary reading of a bill to annex the occupied West Bank, a move that was criticised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
The party said the passing of the bill was an attempt to embarrass the government while US Vice President JD Vance visited the country, dismissing it as “trolling… aimed at damaging our relations with the US and Israel’s great achievements in the campaign” in Gaza.
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The legislation, which will require three votes in the Knesset before becoming law, was introduced by Avi Maoz, head of the far-right Noam party.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to annex the West Bank since its war on Gaza began, but those warnings have grown louder as an increasing number of countries formally recognised the State of Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly in September.
The threats have alarmed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which said any attempt by to annex parts of the West Bank would constitute a “red line” for the Gulf states.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's assistant minister for political affairs and envoy of the foreign minister, told Reuters in September that annexation in the West Bank would severely undermine "the vision and spirit" of the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration.
Israeli media outlet Channel 12 reported on 22 September that Saudi Arabia had sent a message to Israel warning that any annexation would have “major implications in all fields,” without specifying what that would entail.
One of the Trump administration’s main foreign policy goals in the Middle East was to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords. The kingdom, however, has rebuffed these efforts, insisting that a Palestinian state must be established before any normalisation can take place.
Last year, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
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