In an interview with Fox News that aired on September 20, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that his country was moving "closer" to normalization with Israel. Three days later, however, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Furhan Al-Saud, in a speech to the United Nations' General Assembly, reiterated the Saudi position that any normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia must include a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
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Now of course, Israel has always accepted the principle of a two-state solution, wherein a Palestinian state would be established alongside the Jewish state, and the two states would exist side-by-side in peace and security. Tragically, the Palestinians have refused every one of Israel's offers of an independent state, because the reality is that they still seek the destruction of the Jewish state rather than the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside it.
Israel can never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state if the Palestinians are still intent on conquering all of the Jewish state. That being said, there is no problem with Israel declaring in public, as part of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, that it agrees to the establishment of a Palestinian state, without specifying any timetable for the creation of such a state.
You may recall that the commitment to the establishment of a Jewish state in the British Mandate of Palestine didn't have any timetable. There was no set date for ending British rule. Israel came to be in part because the Zionist movement proved that they could meet certain conditions for statehood, such as an effective government and civil administration. Why should it be any different for the Palestinians? Why should Israel agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state with no effective government or firm commitment to live at peace with the Jewish state? Israel agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the short term would, at best, lead to the creation of a failed state, and at worst, the creation of a kind of Palestinian Iran, sworn to Israel's destruction. Thus, Israel can agree to the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, but not in the short term, and certainly not without certain conditions being met on the part of the Palestinians.
Israel can also agree to allow the Palestinians a capital in east Jerusalem. Our leaders have constantly said that Jerusalem will remain Israel's undivided capital forever – a principle that I and many other Israelis agree with 100%. But what exactly constitutes Jerusalem can be subject to interpretation. I think most Israelis would agree that Jerusalem includes the entire old city, including the Temple Mount, as well as the Jewish neighborhoods established both before and after 1967.
But do Israelis really care if their Jerusalem includes Raas Al-Amud, Um Tuba, Beit Safafa, or other Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem? My sense is no. In fact, I would suggest that many Israelis, including those on the Right who detest the idea of ceding any territory to the Palestinians, would be very happy to rid themselves of the Palestinian population in the eastern part of the city. Indeed, it is both possible and practical to cede some Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem to a Palestinian state for a capital. This would still leave the old city and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem as part of Israel.
Thus, Israel can agree to the Saudis' demands for Palestinian statehood with a capital in east Jerusalem. But of course, there is another potential obstacle: the far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government. Politicians like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich scoff at the very idea of making concessions to the Palestinians. They are certain to oppose a normalization agreement with the Saudis that includes concessions to the Palestinians, right? Well, maybe not.
In an interview with CNN a few days ago, Netanyahu expressed confidence that his Coalition partners would agree to conditions that would allow for a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia. I think he has every reason to be confident. Any threat by the Prime Minister's far-right partners to break up the coalition would be nothing but a bluff because, for all their bluster, the hardliners in Netanyahu's government know that if they broke up the coalition, either elections would follow in which they would lose power if recent polls are to be believed, or a new coalition government without them would be created. Either way, it would not be in their interests to break up the current coalition in which they have considerable power.
To make a long story short, any potential obstacles to an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal are not insurmountable. They can be overcome with the right leadership, which Netanyahu brilliantly exemplifies.
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