Saudi Arabia's former intelligence minister Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdulziz al-Saud attends the meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on March 30, 2017. (FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

DUBAI - Saudi Arabia’s price for normalizing relations with Israel is the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, a senior member of the Saudi royal family reaffirmed on Friday.

Prince Turki al-Faisal was apparently responding to US President Donald Trump who said on Wednesday he expected Saudi Arabia to join a deal announced last week by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties

Prince Turki al-Faisal was apparently responding to US President Donald Trump who said on Wednesday he expected Saudi Arabia to join a deal announced last week by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties.

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The UAE is only the third Arab state in more than 70 years to forge full relations with Israel. Under the US-brokered deal, Israel shelved plans to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians seek as part of a future state.

The UAE said Israel’s commitment had kept alive the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel hitherto had no formal ties with Gulf Arab states but shared concerns with the UAE about Iran’s regional influence and actions, along with the UAE’s role as a regional business hub, led to a limited thaw and discreet contacts in recent years.

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The deal raised speculation that other US-backed Gulf Arab countries might follow. But Prince Turki said Saudi Arabia, the biggest Gulf Arab power which has traditionally guided policy towards Israel, expected a higher return from Israel.

“Any Arab state that is considering following the UAE should demand in return a price, and it should be an expensive price,” he wrote in the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set a price for concluding peace between Israel and the Arabs - it is the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital, as provided for by the initiative of the late King Abdullah.”

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That 2002 Arab League plan offered Israel normalized ties in return for Israeli withdrawal from all territories - the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - captured in the 1967 Middle East war, and a Palestinian state there.

But Prince Turki also voiced understanding for the UAE’s decision, noting that Riyadh’s close ally had secured a key condition - a halt to Israeli annexation plans.

In the first Saudi reaction to the UAE-Israeli deal, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday Riyadh remained committed to the Arab peace initiative.

Prince Turki, a former ambassador to Washington and ex-intelligence chief, holds no government office now but remains influential as current chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.

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