Prince Bender, who headed the intelligence services in the kingdom, told Al-Arabiya: "The Palestinian issue is important, but the leadership is failing; the Israeli issue is not justified, but its supporters are successful."
"Level of discourse so poor"
Photography:
AP - Archive
Over the years, Riyadh's criticisms of the Palestinian Authority have been heard more than once, but these things were never said in the first person - but were attributed to senior officials, including Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
Today (Saturday) the Al-Arabiya network publishes part of an extensive interview with Prince Bender bin Sultan, Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington from 2005-1983, who served as Riyadh's secretary general of intelligence services and headed the country's National Security Council.
"The Palestinian issue is important, but their leadership is a failure; the Israeli issue is unjust, but its supporters are successful - this is how the 75-70 years of conflict can be summed up," he said.
Prince Bender attacked Ramallah by referring, among other things, to the response of Abu Mazen and his people to the normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
He said, "What I have recently heard from the Palestinian leadership is painful to the ears. The level of discourse is so poor, such that we do not expect senior officials to seek global support for their cause. Their statements against Gulf leaders are unacceptable."
The first part of the interview, in which stories about Yasser Arafat alongside experiences from Washington, will be broadcast on Al-Arabiya on Monday evening.