Overview

• Israeli authorities denied travel permits for five Arab foreign ministers, including Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan, after branding their planned Ramallah meeting to promote Palestinian statehood “provocative” and a security threat.
• Prince Faisal’s trip would have marked the first visit by a Saudi foreign minister to the occupied West Bank since 1967 and was intended to show Arab unity behind an independent Palestinian state.
• In a joint communiqué, Arab ministers accused Israel of violating its obligations as the occupying power and decried the refusal as evidence of Jerusalem’s disregard for international law.
• The diplomatic rift erupts weeks before Saudi Arabia and France co-chair a United Nations conference in New York from June 17–20 aimed at reviving the two-state solution and securing recognition of Palestinian statehood.
• The dispute follows Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s announcement of 22 new West Bank settlements and his vow to establish a "Jewish Israeli state" in the territory, underscoring Israel’s hardline posture.