Current events in Gaza and Lebanon, including the Tuesday and Wednesday pager attacks which have sown widespread chaos and death in Beirut, have caused Saudi Arabia to get more vocal in rejecting normalization with Israel. The US has for several years been pushing hard for it behind the scenes, calling it “the deal of the century” connected with the Abraham Accords, but Riyadh is fast backing off reports of progress. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) made clear in a Wednesday speech that there will be no official relations with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. “The Kingdom will not cease its diligent efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he told the country’s Shura Council in Riyadh during an annual address. “We confirm that Saudi Arabia will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until that goal is achieved,” he emphasized. He added that Israeli “crimes” in violation of international laws makes this impossible at the moment. “The Palestinian cause is a top priority for Saudi Arabia, and we reiterate the kingdom’s rejection and strong condemnation of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, in disregard of international and humanitarian law […]