RIYADH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A senior Saudi diplomat said Sunday a handshake with an Israeli diplomat at a Munich security conference was a sort of apology by the latter for his criticism of Riyadh over the seating arrangement at the conference, the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news channel reported.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former intelligence chief and former ambassador to the United States, shook hands with Danny Ayalon in an unusual public gesture between an Israeli official and an figure from the Gulf Arab kingdom that does not recognize Israel.
Ayalon "indirectly addressed himself to me by saying that 'The person from a certain country with a lot of oil refused to sit on the same panel with me'," al-Faisal told al-Arabiya, in reference to a panel that had been supposed to include representatives from Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and the United States.
The event itself was split into two sessions; one grouping al- Faisal, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the Egyptian diplomat, and the other gathering Ayalon and U.S. and Russia's representatives.
The Israeli official also said "Saudi Arabia, with all its wealth, has not given a penny to the Palestinian (National) Authority," al-Faisal added.
The Saudi diplomat said he, in response, made clear that he did not object to sitting on the same panel with Ayalon out of the latter's nationality, but rather out of his rude action against Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol.
Last month, Ayalon summoned the Turkish envoy to express Israel 's discontent about a Turkish TV series. During the meeting, the envoy was forced to sit on a sofa lower than Ayalon's, with no Turkish flags displaying on the table, a move considered as a humiliation to Turkey. Ayalon later apologized to Ankara.
"I also refuted his claim about my country's inadequate support for the Palestinian Authority by reminding him that the kingdom has afforded over 500 million U.S. dollars in the past five years to the Palestinian Authority," al-Faisal said.
"Ayalon then asked me to shake hands to show that I do not have hard feelings against him, so I pointed out that he should come to me and when we were face-to-face, he said he apologizes for what he said, and I replied that I accept his apology to me, and to the Turkish ambassador as well," al-Faisal added.
Yet, such a gesture should not be taken out of context or misunderstood, the Saudi official said.
"My strong rejection and condemnation of Israel's policies and practices against the Palestinian people remain unchanged," al- Faisal said.
"Israel's Arab neighbors clearly want peace, but no one should expect them to tolerate with action that amount to theft, and certainly they should not be under pressure to reward Israel for returning lands that it does not own in the first place," he said.
"The Israelis must not labor under the illusion that Saudi Arabia will offer them the regional recognition they want until they accept U.S. President Barack Obama's call for the removal of all settlements," al-Faisal said.
