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Israeli, Saudi former security officials share platform at US think tank

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In a rare joint appearance, two former senior security officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia yesterday discussed the peace process, Iran’s nuclear development and other regional issues.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief and one-time ambassador to Washington, and Major General Yaakov Amidror, former national security advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shared a platform in Washington DC.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy hosted what it described as a “path-breaking public dialogue between senior national security leaders from two old adversaries”.

Israel and Saudi Arabia do not share diplomatic relations, but are thought to have grown closer in recent years, especially over shared concern at Iran’s nuclear development.

Addressing the issue yesterday, al-Faisal said that “all options” would be on the table if Iran began to develop a nuclear bomb. Meanwhile, Amidror predicted that Tehran will look to develop atomic weaponry towards the end of the nuclear agreement brokered last July with the international community. He said that “from the Israeli point of view, this is a threat to existence, and we will not let this happen”.

On the peace process, al-Faisal said that Israel’s government should “seek to grab” the regional Arab Peace Initiative, which was first presented by Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah in 2002. It proposed an overall rapprochement with the Arab world if a two-state solution were finalised. Although Israel rejects the details of the proposed agreement, Amidror called for Arab states to “cooperate with Israel instead of dictating to Israel,” by bringing “both sides under an umbrella to negotiate”. Amidror noted that when the United States presented a framework peace plan in March 2014, Israel accepted the plan, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) never responded.

Both though agreed on the importance of the United States’ role in the region. Amidror said there is “no substitute for the United States of America in the Middle East,” while al-Faisal said that the Saudis’ “strategic relationship with the US will remain”.