The English-language Arab News, based in Riyadh, has published a long-form interview with Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej, who is the first Israeli government minister to be interviewed by the news outlet, which is identified with the Saudi royal family.
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The timing of the interview appears to be related to contacts between Israel and Saudi Arabia to upgrade bilateral relations.
Frej says that the Saudi leadership is a key element to everything having to do with a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
During the interview, Frej also says that Saudi Arabia is "very, very important" to Muslims in Israel, who see it as defender of [Islamic] holy sites.
Frej says that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are not a top priority for Israel's current government, with "half the government" in favor of a two-state solution and half opposing that idea. He says that the most that can be hoped is that Israel will bolster the Palestinian Authority economy and government institutions, an issue on which he says the government as a whole agrees.
In the interview, Frej does not hold back from criticizing the Palestinians, saying that he believes the PA made a mistake by not joining the Abraham Accords. Progress is welcome, he says, and the Palestinians should have been "part of that movement."
When asked about the death of Palestinian Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in crossfire in Jenin in May, Frej called it "an error."
Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US are in the process of hammering out a tripartite agreement under which Saudi Arabia will open its airspace to Israeli airlines, without restriction, and Israel in exchange will greenlight a transfer of sovereignty over the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to the Saudis.
The US, for its part, will be expected to gradually lift its boycott of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Washington blames for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a resident of the US and who would publish articles critical of the Saudi ruling family in the Washington Post.
If the US removes the sanctions on MBS, the Saudis will increase their oil production in order to help the US handle the rising cost of oil that has resulted from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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