Saudi Arabia won’t engage Israel until it ends its occupation of Arab territories, Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the former envoy to the United States and member of the Saudi royal family, said.

“Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, the custodian of its two holy mosques, the world’s energy superpower and the de facto leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds—that is why our recognition is greatly prized by Israel,” Prince Turki wrote in an opinion column in the New York Times.

“For all those same reasons, the kingdom holds itself to higher standards of justice and law,” he said. “It must, therefore, refuse to engage Israel until it ends its illegal occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, as well as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon.”

Israel captured the territories in the Six-Day War in 1967. Prince Turki said Israel ignored two Arab peace proposals put forward by Saudi Arabia, one by the late King Fahd in 1982 and the other by King Abdullah in 2002.

The 2002 peace initiative, endorsed by 22 countries, proposed peace between Israel and Arab states in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. In January King Abdullah said the plan is in danger of being withdrawn.

Egypt and Israel signed a peace accord in 1979. Jordan became the second Arab country to have a treaty with the Jewish state in 1994.

Prince Turki said if Israel wants peace it should start with the “immediate removal” of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“Only this would show the world that Israel is serious about peace and not just stalling as it adds more illegal settlers to those already occupying Palestinian land,” he said.

The Obama administration has asked Israel to halt all construction activity in the West Bank to advance the peace process and Palestinians have said they won’t negotiate unless Israel does so. There are almost 300,000 Israelis living in 121 settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians want to create a state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to agree to a total building freeze, saying construction must continue in existing Jewish communities in the West Bank.

Netanyahu has also said his government wouldn’t agree to any division of Jerusalem. Palestinians have said that in any final agreement, Israel must cede the eastern half of the city to serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

“Until Israel heeds President Obama’s call for the removal of all settlements, the world must be under no illusion that Saudi Arabia will offer what the Israelis most desire—regional recognition,” Prince Turki wrote. “We are willing to embrace the hands of any partner in peace, but only after they have released their grip on Arab lands.”

The former Saudi envoy, born in 1945, is son of the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, who ruled Saudi Arabia from 1964 until 1975 when he was assassinated. Prince Turki, a graduate of Georgetown University was the kingdom’s longest-serving intelligence chief, holding the position for 25 years. He was previously also ambassador to the UK. His brother Prince Saud al-Faisal has been the kingdom’s foreign minister since 1975.  (Bloomberg)