Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lashed out at the Palestinian leadership for rejecting opportunities for peace with Israel for decades during a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York last month. The Saudi royal said Palestinian leaders should either accept peace proposals offered by the United States or “shut up.”

Bin Salman noted that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was not a top priority for the Saudi government, which is more focused on Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East, The Times of Israel reported.

“For the past 40 years, the Palestinian leadership has missed opportunities again and again, and rejected all the offers it was given. It’s about time that the Palestinians accept the offers, and agree to come to the negotiating table — or they should shut up and stop complaining,” the Crown Prince said according to a report from Israel’s Channel 10.

Bin Salman’s comments reportedly surprised Jewish leaders present at the meeting, with a source saying people “literally fell off their chairs.”

The meeting with Jewish leaders took place behind closed doors on March 27, during the prince’s extensive visit to the US. The Saudi Embassy confirmed that bin Salman met with Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism; Rabbi Steven Wernick, head of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; and Allen Fagin, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.

The Saudi Embassy said in a statement that the meetings with the Jewish and Christian community “emphasized the common bond among all people, particularly people of faith, which stresses the importance of tolerance, coexistence, and working together for a better future for all of humanity.”

A few days after the meeting, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg sat down for an interview with bin Salman, in which the Saudi royal recognized Israel’s right to exist. “I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land,” he stated.

In recent months, bin Salman has reportedly pressured Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept a much-anticipated Trump administration peace proposal. The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the White House since it announced that it was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the embassy.

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