Relationship dossier
Palestine
Saudi Arabia
Relationship assessment
Sustained political cooperation, Saudi financial support, and shared advocacy for Palestinian statehood
Palestine toward Saudi Arabia
+40Palestinian leaders endorsed the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative, adopted at the 2002 Beirut Arab League summit, and have coordinated with Saudi Arabia on regional diplomacy concerning Palestinian statehood.
Saudi Arabia toward Palestine
+55Saudi Arabia has provided financial support to the Palestinian Authority and has repeatedly advocated for Palestinian statehood in regional diplomacy. The Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative made a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict central to regional peace.
Overall relationship
+50The relationship has a durable cooperative foundation in Saudi financial support for Palestinian institutions and shared diplomatic advocacy for Palestinian statehood. The Arab Peace Initiative is a prominent expression of that alignment. Differences over regional diplomacy and the terms of any normalization with Israel complicate, but do not define, the relationship.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Palestinian leaders have supported Saudi-led diplomatic initiatives, notably the Arab Peace Initiative, while Saudi Arabia has provided financial support to the Palestinian Authority and advocated for Palestinian statehood in regional diplomacy. The relationship has combined sustained political cooperation with differing approaches to regional diplomacy and normalization with Israel.
Key developments
The Arab League adopted the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative at its Beirut summit, offering regional peace with Israel in return for a resolution of the Palestinian issue.
Saudi Arabia has provided financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
Major uncertainties
- The scale and continuity of Saudi financial support to the Palestinian Authority vary over time.
- The extent of current bilateral coordination on regional diplomacy is unclear.