Mar 4, 2022: According to a report by AFP, Saudi Crown prince Mohammed bin Salam called Israel a “potential ally” and said in a wide-ranging interview published on Thursday that he wants to “work it out” with Iran.

The 36 year old also called the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi “a huge mistake” for which he was unfairly blamed, and revealed a penchant for hit TV series “Game of Thrones”.

“For us, we hope that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is solved,” the prince told The Atlantic, according to a transcript issued by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“We don’t look at Israel as an enemy, we look to them as a potential ally, with many interests that we can pursue together… But we have to solve some issues before we get to that.”

The Kingdom does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, but in 2020 the Gulf allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations with the Jewish state. The U.S-brokered Abraham Accords under the administration of former U.S president Donald Trump have angered Palestinians, who have denounced them as “stab in the back.”

Saudi Arabia’s relations with Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy, accused by the Gulf states of fomenting chaos in the region, have shown signs of improvement in several rounds of talks hosted by Iraq at the same time.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it will stick to the decades-old Arab League’s position of not establishing formal relations with Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

However, Prince Mohammed is more open to Israel than his father, King Salman, allowing its commercial aircraft to pass through Saudi air space.

The crown prince also gave an insight into his personal leisure habits, including his preferred TV: sci-fi series “Foundation” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. “‘Foundation’, it’s a new series. It’s unbelievable. Amazing. ‘Game of Thrones’, for example. It’s great,” added the prince.

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