RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN -- Relations between Arab nations and the United States hinge on American leaders living up to their rhetoric about commitment to lasting peace in the Mideast,  Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal told CNN Saturday. Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal talks with CNN's Nic Robertson about U.S. relations with Arab nations. "President Obama, in his statement yesterday, said that he's genuinely making the effort to accomplish a peaceful resolution," al-Faisal, who served as Saudi ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2007, told CNN's Nic Robertson in an interview Friday. "We've heard this before," al-Faisal said. "We need to see implementation. We need to see facts on the ground change. We need to see rhetoric change. We need to see presence on the ground."
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Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal says U.S.-Arab relations hinge on U.S. role in peace
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Says U.S. lost Arab support by backing Israel in Gaza "catastrophe"
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"Israel is radioactive in region ... Anyone it touches becomes heroic, legitimate"
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Al-Faisal believes U.S. and Israel should negotiate with Hamas
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They [Israelis] claim that they were very careful about collateral damage and they targeted only @placeholder, as they call them, militants and operatives.
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"I think this is one of the issues that makes the relationship between the Arab world in general and Saudi Arabia in particular threatened when it comes to dealing with the @placeholder," al-Faisal said.
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Asked how to stop the rockets, al-Faisal said he thinks the key is to bring @placeholder into the political fold.
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He said Obama should ask Israel to accept the @placeholder peace plan.
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"In terms of government relations, that is something that will have to be decided by the leaderships in the Arab world and @placeholder, but it's not a pretty picture."