Saudi Arabia has apparently thrown down the gauntlet in its loud tiff with the Obama administration's "misguided policies" toward the Middle East and particularly its stance on the Palestinian issue, now in its 64th year, on which President Barack Obama recently reiterated the "unshakeable" US support of Israel.

More infuriating, Obama's wide-ranging but controversial speech on the Middle East, coming as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was flying to Washington last month, failed to indicate whether there will be any "substantive change" in US policy, considering that in September the Palestinian leadership is hoping to win admission to the United Nations.

Although the Saudi outburst was unofficial, it nevertheless came from a prominent member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Turki Al Faisal, the son of the late King Faisal and nephew of the present King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and a former ambassador to the United States and United Kingdom.

For more than 20 years, he served as the chief of the kingdom's main foreign intelligence service and is expected to be named foreign minister once his brother Prince Saud Al Faisal retires.

In a Washington Post column published in the Opinion section of Gulf News yesterday, the articulate and sharp Prince Turki underlined that "there will be disastrous consequences" for US-Saudi relations if the US vetoes UN recognition of a Palestine state.

He continued: "It would mark a nadir in the decades-long [Saudi-US] relationship as well as irrevocably damage the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and America's reputation among Arab nations. The ideological distance between the Muslim world and the West in general would widen — and opportunities for friendship and cooperation between the two could vanish."

There was no immediate US official response, but a Washington Post columnist, Richard Cohen, described Prince Turki's remarks as "a declaration of war". He added that "while [Prince Turki's] vexation over the Palestinian problem is well known, rarely has it been carried to this extent — and in such a public venue".

Tired of bias

The columnist also noted that Saudi Arabia "is sick and tired of American favouritism to Israel — the exuberant congressional reception for Benjamin Netanyahu, for example — and the administration's decision to oppose any effort in the UN to create a Palestine state. In this matter, America is doing what Israel wants."

He added that Prince Turki's column, seen as "remarkable and ominous," shows "a not surprising frustration in the Arab world with American policy tethered for the moment to a quite stubborn and unimaginative Israel policy".

Prince Turki's firmness was clear-cut and foreboding:

"The [US] president must realise that the Arab world will no longer allow Palestinians to be delegitimised by Israeli actions to restrict their movement, choke off their economy and destroy their homes. Saudi Arabia will not stand by while Washington and Israel bicker endlessly about their intentions, fail to advance their plans and then seek to undermine a legitimate Palestinian presence on the international stage."

Peace talks

At the same time, the Netanyahu government, orchestrated by its extreme rightist foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has started "mobilising" its embassies for the battle against UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September, "ordering its diplomats to convey that this would delegitimise Israel and foil any chance for future peace talks," according to Haaretz.

The Israeli daily, basing its reports on classified cables, revealed that Israeli envoys were instructed "to lobby the highest possible officials in their countries of service, muster support from local Jewish communities, ply the media with articles arguing against recognition and even ask for a call or quick visit from a top Israeli official if they think it would help".

It was clear that the Israelis were concentrating on European countries which were divided into three groups: States that opposed Palestinian membership outright like Germany and Italy, others like former Eastern bloc countries that have recognised the Palestinian state in 1988 but still remain unclear about their current position on UN membership like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria — Netanyahu and Lieberman are due to visit these states shortly; and countries that tend to automatically side with the Palestinians including Sweden, Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, however, were said to believe that most Asian, African and South American countries will support the Palestinians at a UN General Assembly session and only a few countries, mainly the US, Canada and a few Europeans, will vote against admission to the world body.

No wonder Helene Cooper, of the New York Times, reported that the whole issue, starting with the Palestinian campaign for UN membership and the likelihood of Palestinian street demonstrations in support of their goal "is causing a lot of heartburn among American policy makers."

How this will influence the American president remains to be seen but should he reconsider his biased position all can live, as they say, "happily ever after".