Arab Knesset member says, Saudi's protecting Netanyahu

Beirut: Saudi Arabia is forging a direct alliance with the Palestinians' worst enemy - the Israeli right headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, MK Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint (Arab) List, claimed on Tuesday.

"Saudi Arabia does not want the downfall of Netanyahu," Odeh said. "Saudi Arabia does not want the Israeli right to be replaced. Saudi Arabia believes that Netanyahu is the best man in the battle against Iran," he said in an interview with the Al Mayadeen TV station, Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

Introducing the Knesset member, the presenter of the Dialogue of the Hour program described Odeh as head of the Joint List in "historical Palestine."

Lebanon based Pan-Arab sattelite channel Al Mayadeen, is seen as an alternative to Qatar owned Al-Jazeera and the channel regularly provides a platform for those advocating resistance against Israeli occupation of Arab lands.

"What's new and dangerous is what Saudi Arabia is doing," Odeh said in the interview. Saudi Arabia is not only coordinating with Israel; this is already behind us, and an established fact. There's something more dangerous than this. Saudi Arabia is allied with the Israeli right wing and with Netanyahu."

Odeh said that his accusation was based on a "scientific analysis" of the situation.

Saudi Arabia, he explained, considers the Iran issue as the most important in the region, even more important than the Israeli-Arab conflict.

"So who's Saudi Arabia's ally and shares its view regarding this issue? Is it Avi Gabbay from the Labor Party or Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid? Or is it Netanyahu, the leader of the Israeli extreme right wing? All those watching us now can nod their heads in agreement and say this is the scientifically true."

Netanyahu frequently boasts of the growing behind the scenes cooperation with Sunni Arab nations like the Saudis or the Gulf States.

Odeh pointed out that in the past Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries used to say that there would not be normalization of relations with Israel before there's a solution to the Palestinian issue.

Now, he added, there's a "direct alliance between Saudi Arabia and the Israeli right because the Saudis believe that Netanyahu is the only one capable of inciting America against Iran."

The Saudis, Odeh said, also believe that Netanyahu is the only one capable of working toward having the Iran deal rescinded.

"Practically, there's a direct alliance between Saudi Arabia and the Israeli right," Odeh said, denouncing the current Israeli government as the most dangerous to the Palestinians. "Saudi Arabia is aligning itself with the Palestinians' staunchest enemies. This is despicable, by all standards."

Odeh criticized Arab countries for promoting normalization with the Zionist state.

"In 1948, some Arab regimes conspired with the Zionist movement against the Palestinian people," he claimed. "These Arab regimes contributed to the Palestinian Nakba (disaster). Some of these regimes had secret relations with Israel. Some of these regimes later signed peace treaties with Israel," he said, apparently referring to Jordan and Egypt.