Although Saudi Arabia has found itself in alignment with Israel regarding Iranian aggression in the region, the kingdom still regards the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Biblical heartland and Jerusalem as the most important of its priorities.
“The Palestinian cause is our first cause,” said Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at this year’s Arab League Summit held in the Saudi city of Dhahran.
“It will remain on top until our Palestinian brothers achieve all their legitimate rights including the establishment of an independent state with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital.”
The prioritization of the issue of Jerusalem could not have been more apparent at the summit as the Arab League meetup was dubbed the “Jerusalem Summit” at the intitivate of the Saudi monarch. In that vein, King Salman conveyed the league’s opposition to US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“We renew our rejection of the US Jerusalem decision,” he stressed. “Eastern Jerusalem is an inseparable part of the Palestinian lands.”
King Salman also announced that Saudi Arabia would contribute $150 million towards the Waqf, an Islamic religious trust from Jordan that preserves Islamic sites in Jerusalem including the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on top the Temple Mount.
At the same time, King Salman touched upon the ongoing Iranian aggression in the Arab world.
“We renew our strong condemnation of Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries,” he said.
