Saudis: Peace must include Palestinian state, east Jerusalem as capital

Saudi FM spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 23, 2023 (photo credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 23, 2023
(photo credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)

Saudi Arabia has said that any solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would need to include an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The statement was made by Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Furhan Al-Saud at the UN General Assembly on Saturday night. He spoke the day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his address, during which he touted the idea of a "new Middle East" with normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu hints at accepting concessions to Palestinians

In interview that the prime minister gave in America, he hinted at the possibility of his coalition considering concessions to the Palestinians as part of their efforts to secure such a peace agreement.

The prime minister spoke to CNN and Fox News on Friday, telling reporters that if he agreed to concessions, he believed his far-right party members would follow.

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 23, 2023 (credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 23, 2023 (credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)

"Would you be willing to blow up your coalition, essentially, to get this deal with Saudi done?" CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Netanyahu. 

"I don't think it'll require that," he said. "You think they'll go along with it?" Collins continued. "It's whether I go along with it," Netanyahu responded, deriding statements made by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that no concessions would be made

This is a developing story.