Saudi Arabian prince and media mogul al-Waleed bin Talal has said that his state must consider forging a “defense pact” with Tel Aviv in order to stop Iran from getting involved in the unfolding Middle East crisis, according to Kuwaiti Al Qabas Daily.

Prince al-Waleed was quoted as saying, “The whole Middle East dispute is tantamount to matter of life and death for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from my vantage point, and I know that Iranians seek to unseat the Saudi regime by playing the Palestinian card. Hence, to foil their plots, Saudi Arabia and Israel must bolster their relations and form a united front to stymie Tehran’s ambitious agenda.”

The Saudi media tycoon asserted that Iran seeks to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, thereby bolstering its own presence and influence in the region.

He went on to say that in the case of another Palestinian uprising, he would stand with Israel for the sake of stopping Iran. “I will side with the Jewish nation and its democratic aspirations in case of outbreak of a Palestinian Intifada and I shall exert all my influence to break any ominous Arab initiatives set to condemn Tel Aviv, because I deem the Arab-Israeli entente and future friendship necessary to impede the Iranian dangerous encroachment,” he said, according to Al Qabas.

Prince al-Waleed made the remarks on a regional tour of other Gulf Arab states, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, as he attempted to muster regional support for Saudi-backed Islamist rebels in Syria.

This is not the first time Saudi Arabia has made overtures towards Israel in the interest of uniting against Iran. In anticipation of the nuclear deal which many believe will give Iran significant leeway towards developing nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia joined Israel in talks discussing a possible joint attack.