ROME – Saudi Arabia can be expected to take “bold moves” that could lead to the establishment of a two state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, experts at the Euro-Gulf Information Centre think tank have predicted.

 Experts from the Rome-based think tank made the prediction at a conference on "2024 the year ahead in the Gulf space" that was held Monday assessing likely future developments among the Gulf countries and in the Middle East. One esteemed observer noted that in the wake of the long-running territorial dispute between Qatar and Bahrein having been resolved, with travel between the two countries now normal, the Gulf Cooperation Council started in 1981 is now “back operational,” and one sees “the GCC becoming a kernel of stability in an unstable region.”

 Plans are under way to build new bridges between Bahrain and Qatar as well as to extend the causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrein.

 Experts contributing to the EGIC forum also were upbeat about reform in Saudi Arabia. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a whole new place. The 2030 agenda is going to re-define Saudi Arabia as a country,” one respected Western expert on the Gulf predicted. He underlined the importance of the new Saudi smart city of Neom being built around the clock in three 8 hour construction shifts “to create a transformational city” that will reach from the Gulf to Jordan, Tehran and Egypt.

 Within three years as many as 3 million people are expected to live in Neom. “Saudi Arabia’s main focus is its economic transformation moving away from its traditional emphasis on oil to become for example a gaming industry centre and a health services centre,” the expert observer noted.

 “Saudi Arabia has understood,” he argued, “that there is no such thing as economic development without political stability.” Its human rights record may be highly dubious but “people turn to Saudi Arabia for spiritual guidance,” given the King’s role as keeper of the Two Holy Places of Islam. “The Kingdom promotes inter-cultural dialogue.”

 The experts also noted Saudi Arabia’s engagement with the Brics block of countries though unlike the UAE which has formally joined the BRICS the Kingdom has not yet formally joined.

 Experts cautiously nourished the hope that reaction to the carnage of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7 and the massive Palestinian civilian casualties due to Israeli retaliation against Hamas in Gaza can herald a decisive peace process to achieve a two state solution just as NATO was borne out of the Second World War.

 One expert noted that it was Saudi Arabia that in 2002 proposed the Arab peace plan to end the Palestinian Israeli conflagration. “Now the Saudis are re-insisting on a two state solution, trying to reinvigorate the peace plan.”

 While the Biden administration and the EU have resumed their emphasis on the need for the 2 state solution the primary win of Donald Trump in Iowa has fuelled speculation that the United States may move to isolationism in foreign policy if Trump wins, providing the Saudis, GCC countries and Egypt with scope for filling the vacuum.

 jp