Saudi prince lashes out at Jewish state; Israeli FM: ‘blame game era is over’

i24NEWS

December 06, 2020, 08:22 AM

A Saudi prince launched a scathing attack against the Jewish state on Sunday, prompting Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to “reject his remarks“ and emphasize that the “’blame game’ era [in the Middle East] is over.“

Former senior government official of Saudi Arabia Turki al-Faisal al Saud blasted Israel for having “arrested thousands of the inhabitants of the lands they are colonizing and incarcerated them in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations — young and old, women and men who are rotting there without recourse or justice,” according to the Times of Israel (TOI).

Al-Faisal further lambasted Israel for demolishing Palestinian homes “as they wish,” assassinating “whomever they want,” and questioning Israel’s democracy as it defines itself as “exclusively Jewish.”

He also branded the security fence in the West Bank separating Israel from the Palestinians an “apartheid wall,” according to TOI.

The seething remarks were delivered at a panel discussion in Manama, Bahrain, in which Ashkenazi participated as well.

In his turn to speak via video from Jerusalem, the Israeli minister replied that “I would like to express my regret on the comments of the Saudi representative. I don’t believe that they reflect the spirit and the changes taking place in the Middle East.”

Israeli officials have confirmed recently that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi about two weeks ago.