Despite its regional leadership role and contacts with the USA, Israel and the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia is holding back in the Gaza hostage crisis. Why does the otherwise so active Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman leave the field to others? Questions for Sebastian Sons, who has been researching developments in the Gulf region for years.
Mr. Sons, war is raging in the Middle East, Egypt, Qatar and the USA are acting as mediators. But Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the leading power in the region, remains largely silent. How come?
The situation for Saudi Arabia is delicate. Traditionally and emotionally, the country supports the Palestinian cause and calls for the two-state solution. At the same time, there were recently talks mediated by the USA about normalizing Saudi-Israeli relations. And they don’t want to completely give up on a future partnership with Israel. There is a certain dilemma in this.
So what is the position of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS?
He wants a ceasefire, a peaceful, diplomatic solution and to avoid regional escalation. Although some of his government’s statements are very anti-Israel, they are not as vehement as we see from other Arab states. They continue to try to present themselves as the leading nation in the Arab-Islamic world and give the impression that they are acting in a unified manner. But a summit of the Arab League last week in Riyadh showed that there are very different positions: Iran is on the side of Hamas. Qatar maintains relations with Hamas, but tries to exert a mediating influence. And then we have Saudi Arabia, but also the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which are in a quandary because they have recently drawn closer to Israel.