- ARAB NEWS
- 15 Dec 2025
Since 1975
RIYADH: Peace and stability in the Middle East rest on a just solution to the Palestinian issue, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the UK and US, has told a leading Washington foreign policy forum.
Addressing the annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference organized by the National Council on US-Arab Relations, the former intelligence chief said that recurring troubles have left the region in “a state of strategic confusion.”
In the Middle East, wars are becoming “almost normal in this conflict-thirsty region,” he said.
Highlighting Israel’s “relentless and destructive response” to the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks, Prince Turki said that the resulting war “represents a political failure stemming from arrogance and unfounded convictions that led to ignoring the suffering endured by the besieged people of Gaza.”
These “delusions” also led Israel to misconstrue Arab overtures for peace, he added.
“However, it is not only the Middle East that is troubled and in a state of uncertainty,” the former diplomat said. “Wherever we look today on the map of the globe, we find that there is a crisis in every corner, and without a clear horizon to find appropriate solutions that solve the problems.”
This state of strategic confusion is contributing immensely to the continuation and escalation of violence, he said.
“It also creates new conflicts that complicate the situation in a region where every crisis begets another crisis, and where every issue is linked to another issue. Fatigue, confusion in the Middle East means a state of sharp polarization, multiplicity of issues of conflict, and multiplicity of competing actors dealing with the situation on an ad hoc basis.”
Prince Turki highlighted the lack of a clear-cut direction or strategy aimed at bringing conflicts to a peaceful end, and creating the necessary conditions for peace, stability, and security.
He praised steps by countries such as France and Norway to recognize the Palestinian state, and to “convince those who are not convinced that peace in the Middle East rests on solving this outstanding issue justly.”
Calling on the US to build on its efforts to end the Gaza war, Prince Turki said that Washington should “take the most important step in leading and heeding the voices of its friends and allies in the region” by supporting the principles of the Arab Peace Initiative and pushing for an end to the conflict.
“Leaders who walk the extra steps for peace are seen as great leaders,” he told the conference, adding: “President Trump, it is your turn to be that leader. Lead your 20-point ceasefire proposal to the inevitable 21st point.”
Prince Turki urged the US leader to take Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit as the opportunity to recognize the Palestinian state and “end the bloodshed of Palestinians and Israelis forever.”
He called for a resolution of the Gaza conflict to “leave behind the death and destruction meted out to the Palestinian people, and pursue peace and prosperity for all of us — American, Palestinian, Israeli and the Saudi people.”
