Saudi Arabia Says Israeli Ban on West Bank Visit Shows “Extremism” and “Rejection of Peace”

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, attends the Ministerial Committee Assigned by the Joint Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit on Gaza as they meet in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni

Amman, June 2, 2025 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud said that Israel’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers into the occupied West Bank reflected “extremism” and a “rejection of peace.”

His remarks came during a joint press conference in Amman with the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, and Bahrain, following a meeting of an Arab contact group that had planned to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for a peaceful pathway,” Prince Faisal said. “It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance.”

On Saturday, Israel informed Palestinian Authority officials that it would not permit the planned ministerial visit to the West Bank, which was to include representatives from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Had it taken place, Prince Faisal’s visit would have marked the first visit by a top Saudi official to the West Bank in recent memory.

An Israeli official said the ministers intended to attend a “provocative meeting” to promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that blocking the visit was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.

An international conference on Palestinian statehood, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from June 17 to 20.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the upcoming conference would address security arrangements following a potential ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction efforts, with the goal of ensuring that Palestinians remain on their land and countering any Israeli efforts to forcibly displace them.

Commenting on the blocked visit, Israeli Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh told Al Arabiya Television that the delegation of Arab foreign ministers was seeking to promote an end to the Gaza war, bolster the Palestinian Authority, and support a Saudi-French U.N. initiative to establish a roadmap for a Palestinian state.

Odeh said the initiative could lead to broader international recognition of Palestinian statehood, which contradicts the current Israeli government’s policy. He added that Israel blocked the visit to weaken the Palestinian Authority, which it views as the potential nucleus of a Palestinian state.

Israel is under growing pressure from the United Nations and several European countries that favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.