16 August 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia’s appointment of a consul general in Jerusalem means that it “rejects the city’s annexation” by the occupation state of Israel, Quds Press has reported.
“Naming a non-resident ambassador to the State of Palestine and consul general in Jerusalem has an important and historic significance,” said Ahmad Al-Deek, an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. “This means that Saudi Arabia is rejecting the [Israeli] annexation of Jerusalem and deals with the city as the capital of the state of Palestine and an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories.”
The Saudi Ambassador to Jordan, Naif Bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, was named at the weekend as the “Non-resident ambassador to the State of Palestine and consul general in Jerusalem”. According to the Saudi state news agency, a ceremony took place in Amman on Saturday, during which PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic adviser received Al-Sudairi’s credentials.
The PA welcomed the appointment. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh described it as “historic and significant.”
Al-Deek added that this “reflects Saudi Arabia’s interest in the issue of Palestine and proves that it is a central part of its foreign policy on the Arab, Islamic and international levels. ”He also noted that the timing is significant, as it comes amidst “continuous and intensive attempts to marginalise the Palestinian issue by the extremist Israeli government.”
