Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt yesterday rejected a statement by the Union of Arab Parliaments which called for stopping normalisation with Israel, the Shehab news agency reported.

Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim suggested that the final statement of the union’s 29th meeting, which was held in the Jordanian capital Amman, should include a recommendation to stop normalising ties with Israel.

Speaker of the Saudi Shura Council Abdullah Al-Sheikh objected, saying: “Calls for stopping normalisation with Israel is the authority of politicians not the parliamentarians,” stressing that this recommendation be deleted from the statement.

The representatives of the UAE and Egypt also called for reviewing this recommendation, but the Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament Atef Al-Tarawneh insisted it maintain.

During the meeting, Al-Ghanim criticised normalising ties with Israel, considering it a “political taboo”.

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He also stressed on the importance of discussing the issue of Palestine and Jerusalem. “Our enemy [the Israeli occupation] does not want us to discuss the issue of Palestine even in out speeches,” he said.

A number of Arab countries have developed their relations with Israel, including Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE. However, Jordan and Egypt have had official relations with Israel for decades as they signed peace agreements with it.