1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:05,000 AMNA NAWAZ: Foreign ministers from several Arab allies of the United States are in Washington 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,333 this week for meetings with the Biden administration about the Israel-Hamas war. 3 00:00:09,333 --> 00:00:13,533 Nick Schifrin sat down earlier today with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, 4 00:00:13,533 --> 00:00:18,533 Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, to discuss that war and the kingdom's role in the region. 5 00:00:20,500 --> 00:00:23,333 NICK SCHIFRIN: Prince Faisal, Mr. Foreign minister, thank you. Welcome to the "NewsHour." 6 00:00:23,333 --> 00:00:25,400 You are here in Washington. You are calling for 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,633 a cease-fire. The U.S. is not. What is your message today here in D.C.? 8 00:00:29,633 --> 00:00:31,700 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD, Saudi Foreign Minister: Our message is that 9 00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:36,700 too many civilians have already died on October 7 and since. 10 00:00:38,700 --> 00:00:41,900 We have now seen a level of carnage in Gaza that is unprecedented, that is unjustifiable 11 00:00:43,966 --> 00:00:48,800 under any pretext of self-defense. So, we need to find a path out of this conflict, 12 00:00:51,666 --> 00:00:55,500 and, therefore, we think there should be a cease-fire that can allow us, 13 00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:58,900 first of all, to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. 14 00:00:58,900 --> 00:01:03,866 And we're not just seeing people dying from Israeli bombs or from the fighting on the 15 00:01:05,833 --> 00:01:09,033 ground. We're also seeing people dying now of diseases such as cholera because of the 16 00:01:11,433 --> 00:01:14,433 broken-down sanitary system. So we need to focus on protecting the lives of the civilians of Gaza. 17 00:01:14,433 --> 00:01:17,833 NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. is vetoing the Security Council resolution. 18 00:01:17,833 --> 00:01:19,966 Does that mean they're not listening to you? 19 00:01:19,966 --> 00:01:23,333 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: Unfortunately, we are seeing a position that cease-fires are 20 00:01:23,333 --> 00:01:26,900 somehow a dirty word, and I can't - - honestly can't understand that. 21 00:01:26,900 --> 00:01:29,933 Usually, what we see when there's a conflict in the international scene, 22 00:01:29,933 --> 00:01:34,933 we are all always looking for a way to end the fighting. So we're very disappointed that the 23 00:01:36,966 --> 00:01:39,500 Security Council hasn't been able to take a firm position on that, and we certainly 24 00:01:39,500 --> 00:01:44,500 disagree with the U.S. that this resolution deserves -- doesn't deserve to go through. 25 00:01:46,466 --> 00:01:48,166 NICK SCHIFRIN: How will you respond to that? I mean, you're here chairing the 26 00:01:48,166 --> 00:01:50,933 Arab Islamic Ministerial Committee with a group of foreign ministers. 27 00:01:50,933 --> 00:01:53,900 What will you do concretely in response to, 28 00:01:53,900 --> 00:01:56,433 to be honest, what it sounds like, the U.S. not listening? 29 00:01:56,433 --> 00:02:00,133 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: I mean, we're going to continue to push this very important 30 00:02:00,133 --> 00:02:05,033 message that too many civilians have already died, there is no reason for more civilians to die, 31 00:02:07,366 --> 00:02:10,333 and, more importantly, this continuing military operation and this continuing level of civilian 32 00:02:12,866 --> 00:02:16,200 casualties does not serve anybody's interests, including the interests of Israel or its security. 33 00:02:17,966 --> 00:02:19,933 NICK SCHIFRIN: With all due respect some officials, 34 00:02:19,933 --> 00:02:24,433 tell me that your public calls do not match your private calls to destroy Hamas. 35 00:02:25,166 --> 00:02:26,633 Why the dual message? 36 00:02:26,633 --> 00:02:28,600 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: There is no dual message. 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,666 What we say in private and what we say in public is exactly the same, 38 00:02:30,666 --> 00:02:34,700 not just for the kingdom, but for all of the Arabs. I am very proud that what we are saying 39 00:02:34,700 --> 00:02:39,700 in public and private is the same. I can't say the same for some of our Western interlocutors. 40 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,433 NICK SCHIFRIN: Meaning what the United States says in public and private is different? 41 00:02:43,433 --> 00:02:45,033 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: I didn't name any. And I'm not 42 00:02:45,033 --> 00:02:46,800 going to -- it's not the United States or any particular country. 43 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,866 I'm just saying that some of our Western interlocutors are saying 44 00:02:49,866 --> 00:02:52,066 things in public that they are not saying in private. 45 00:02:52,066 --> 00:02:55,666 NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the U.N., 46 00:02:55,666 --> 00:02:57,666 told the Security Council -- quote -- "There is a 47 00:02:57,666 --> 00:03:02,400 high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza." 48 00:03:04,333 --> 00:03:06,866 In Northern Gaza, 90 percent of those remaining there have spent at least one 49 00:03:06,866 --> 00:03:11,866 full day and night without food; 22 of 36 of Gaza's hospitals are not working. 50 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:18,433 Is there will among Arab nations to step in with a humanitarian plan to help Gaza? 51 00:03:20,366 --> 00:03:22,366 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: The situation is extremely dire, just as you described. 52 00:03:22,366 --> 00:03:26,300 We have already stepped up. There's Arab countries and others. We have 53 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:30,066 provided significant quantities of aid. This aid is being restricted 54 00:03:30,066 --> 00:03:34,000 from going into Gaza. This aid is being blocked and obstructed. 55 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,000 I was struck some -- a week or so ago when I was at the U.N. Security Council, 56 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,733 the Israeli representative said -- and I quote -- "Humanitarian aid is important, 57 00:03:43,733 --> 00:03:47,233 but more food, water and medicine will not bring us a solution." 58 00:03:47,233 --> 00:03:49,800 And I'm curious,what is a solution? 59 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,233 NICK SCHIFRIN: Gazans tell us that they feel abandoned by the Arab world. They're 60 00:03:54,233 --> 00:03:57,500 angry. The war continues. Do you think you have let them down? 61 00:03:57,500 --> 00:03:59,933 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: I think they are justifiably angry that they are 62 00:03:59,933 --> 00:04:04,900 suffering while the international community as a whole has let them down. You see that 63 00:04:06,833 --> 00:04:10,000 the established mechanisms for international security and peace have not acted. This is a 64 00:04:12,533 --> 00:04:16,400 failing of the entire international community. We all bear that burden. 65 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,800 NICK SCHIFRIN: Are you worried that the Israeli Defense Forces are waging their 66 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,800 campaign in a way that the region could be engulfed with a kind of extremism that 67 00:04:26,766 --> 00:04:30,000 would prevent your vision of the future to be prevented from actually being achieved? 68 00:04:31,966 --> 00:04:34,466 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: This is absolutely a critical concern that we have. 69 00:04:34,466 --> 00:04:38,633 These images of dead babies in Gaza, of collapsed buildings, just like the images of October 7 have 70 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,800 been shocking to the Israeli public, the images since shocking and infuriating not just to Arabs, 71 00:04:46,900 --> 00:04:51,400 not just to people in our part of the world, but all over the world. It means that people 72 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,833 are losing their trust, first of all, in the two-state solution. 73 00:04:55,833 --> 00:05:00,833 They're losing their trust in the argument for peace in our region, but they're also losing their 74 00:05:03,833 --> 00:05:08,833 trust in the international systems of security and legitimacy. And that, I think, is a danger 75 00:05:11,366 --> 00:05:15,666 to us all. And, of course, there is the risk of extremism. There is the risk of, whether it's lone 76 00:05:18,066 --> 00:05:21,900 wolves or others being driven to violence by these images and these scenes of civilian suffering. 77 00:05:23,366 --> 00:05:25,666 NICK SCHIFRIN: Is there a risk that, as the Gaza war goes on, 78 00:05:25,666 --> 00:05:30,666 as the world continues to see these scenes of sufferings, you could refuse to re-begin 79 00:05:33,333 --> 00:05:38,100 talks to normalize relations with Israel and everything associated with that deal? 80 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:43,100 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: We are convinced that the only solution is peace. And this is the 81 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:48,066 strategic choice we have made in Saudi Arabia and all of the Arabs have made, and from 1982, 82 00:05:48,066 --> 00:05:53,066 when Saudi Arabia proposed the face initiative to the 2002 Arab peace initiative and beyond. 83 00:05:54,633 --> 00:05:57,500 We are committed to making peace, including supporting peace with 84 00:05:57,500 --> 00:06:02,500 Israel. And we will engage and we are ready to engage with a two-state solution. 85 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:06,833 NICK SCHIFRIN: But this is a little different. This is normalizing relations with Israel, 86 00:06:06,833 --> 00:06:11,233 getting a security guarantee from the United States, getting civilian enrichment, 87 00:06:11,233 --> 00:06:16,233 nuclear program, from the United States, giving the Palestinians I'm not sure exactly what. 88 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:20,300 Are you willing to restart those negotiations at some point? Or, 89 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:24,733 at some point, do those negotiations become impossible, given the nature of the war? 90 00:06:24,733 --> 00:06:28,300 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: We are focused on ending the war now, 91 00:06:28,300 --> 00:06:32,000 but we are also very, very interested in moving the cause of peace forward. 92 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,133 And that has been what we were working on before. And that is something we continue. 93 00:06:36,133 --> 00:06:41,133 And I have to say, both in my engagements with the administration and with Congress, 94 00:06:41,133 --> 00:06:46,133 I hear a clear message that peace is the answer. And that will need a Palestinian 95 00:06:47,766 --> 00:06:51,900 element. That will need us to move irrevocably to a Palestinian state. 96 00:06:53,933 --> 00:06:56,666 NICK SCHIFRIN: Does the kingdom, does the crown prince consider the possibility there could be a 97 00:06:56,666 --> 00:07:01,666 kind of Sadat moment of going to Israel to make the kind of peace that you're talking about? 98 00:07:03,700 --> 00:07:05,733 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: So, the priority now is, let's stop the killing. 99 00:07:05,733 --> 00:07:10,666 And, after that, hopefully, we can focus again on peace and moving forward. And peace means 100 00:07:12,700 --> 00:07:16,500 dignity and prosperity for the Palestinians and a state in which they can have those and 101 00:07:18,700 --> 00:07:23,700 that will allow them to live in the region, along with Israel, in that peace and dignity. 102 00:07:25,633 --> 00:07:28,933 NICK SCHIFRIN: Are there any Arab governments willing to come into Gaza, 103 00:07:28,933 --> 00:07:33,933 as the U.S. is requesting, as some kind of peacekeeping arrangement after the war? 104 00:07:35,533 --> 00:07:38,066 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: Look, we have made two things clear, 105 00:07:38,066 --> 00:07:41,133 that we cannot talk about the day after in Gaza without talking about Palestine as a whole. 106 00:07:43,133 --> 00:07:45,633 That is a unified position of the Arab world. And we have also said that we 107 00:07:45,633 --> 00:07:50,033 cannot talk about the day after without an end to the fighting, because we don't know, 108 00:07:50,033 --> 00:07:54,100 what does the day after mean? What does the day after look like? What does Gaza look like? 109 00:07:54,100 --> 00:07:56,800 NICK SCHIFRIN: Since October the 7th, the Houthis from Yemen have launched cruise 110 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,266 missiles toward Israel, attacked and even hijacked a commercial vessel in the Red Sea, 111 00:08:01,266 --> 00:08:03,500 and have sent drones toward U.S. ships. 112 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:07,700 How concerned are you by these Houthi attacks? And what messages 113 00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:09,900 are you delivering to the Houthis directly? 114 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:12,533 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: Look, we are clear that escalation 115 00:08:12,533 --> 00:08:17,100 is in nobody's interest. And that's the message we are sending very clearly. 116 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:22,100 We hope that we can focus on ending the situation in Gaza and the conflict. The 117 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,000 risks of this conflict continuing and this conflict escalating and spiraling 118 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,966 are significant and real. We are committed to ending the war in Yemen and we are 119 00:08:31,966 --> 00:08:36,233 committed to a permanent cease-fire that opens the door for a political process. 120 00:08:36,233 --> 00:08:40,600 And we are going to continue to work towards that end, and we are very -- fully engaged 121 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:45,600 in that. And I don't think that we are going to see a significant risk to that right now. 122 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:48,500 NICK SCHIFRIN: Mr. Foreign Minister, thank you very much. 123 00:08:48,500 --> 00:08:48,633 PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD: Thank you very much.