One quality the Saudi royals don’t lack is chutzpah. They’re planning to host an international conference on “combating terrorism,” at which they will blame the rise of “violence and extremism” on Israel: Saudi to host international terrorism conference. (Hat tip: zulubaby.)

Saudi Arabia on Monday announced it would host an international conference on combating terrorism, but warned that peace and security in the Middle East will fail if Israel holds on to policies “totally incompatible with the fundamental principles of the peace process.”

Saudi Arabia’s “strategy of pre-emptive actions to forestal criminal acts has been successful in the fight against this vile epidemic,” Nizar Obaid Madani, Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister told world leaders and diplomats at the U.N. General Assembly’s ministerial meeting. …

While denouncing terrorism, Madani said terrorists’ actions should not be used as a pretext for linking Islam with terror.

Madani said that the Saudi government will host the international conference to combat terrorism, from Feb. 5-8. It was unclear exactly which countries were invited or if any had said they would attend. The aim of the conference is to “exchange information and experience in the field of combating terrorism” and to foster cooperation in the fight against “this universal threat.”

He said the conference would also address measures to help tackle money laundering as well as drug and arms smuggling. They also hope to study the framework of terrorist organizations. Saudi Arabia “hopes that the outcome (of the conference)…will constitute an important addition…to eradicating the roots and causes of this dangerous phenomenon,” Madani said, adding that invitations were sent to various world bodies and countries victimized by, or struggling with, terrorism.

But Madani, in language echoed by Arab countries and many others, said that mounting violence and extremism in the Middle East “are largely due to the Israel government’s pursuit of policies that are totally incompatible with the fundamental principles of the peace process.”

Meanwhile, at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the world’s most prestigious Islamic center of learning, the curriculum consists of Islamic supremacism and bloodthirsty jihad.

As it has for many years.