The Gulf state has played a significant role in the region by providing extensive economic aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Al-Thani was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying: “At the end of the day, we don’t have a war with Israel, the Israelis have an occupation over the Palestinians.”
The best framework to bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he suggested, was the 2002 Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative.
That plan offered diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab states in return for Israeli withdrawal for territories it acquired in the Six-Day War and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, the week before last United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Israel would have to make concessions to the Palestinians if it wanted a deal with the Saudis.
He told Israel’s visiting Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer that Israel would be “misreading the situation” if it did not think it would have to make concessions, JNS reported.
