A senior member of the Saudi royal family has launched a public tirade against Israel in a signal that hopes for a normalisation deal between the two countries may be premature.

Prince Turki al-Faisal said that despite Israel’s claims it seeks friendship with Saudi Arabia, all its “governments are the last of the western colonising powers of the Middle East.”

“From the time of Balfour declaration they have forcefully evicted the inheritors of Palestine after the 1948 war as attested to by Israeli historians,” he told the IISS Manama Dialogue, a security conference held in Bahrain at the weekend. 

The former intelligence chief, who is not a member of the Saudi government, stressed he attended the conference in a “personal capacity”.

But the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, adopted a more measured tone, as he said the kingdom remains “completely open to full normalisation with Israel”.

“But in order for that to happen and for that to be sustainable, we do need the Palestinians to get their state and we do need to settle that situation,” he said.

Israeli foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi said he did not believe Prince Turki’s remarks “reflect the spirit and changes taking place in the Middle East.”

Israel's US-brokered agreements with the UAE and Bahrain have raised hopes Saudi Arabia may follow suit, but Palestinian leaders have met the prospect with dismay.