What Is Happening With Saudi-Israel Normalization? We, At The Mideast Watchpost By American Jewish Congress, Have The Inside Scoop, Starting With A Saudi-Israeli Joint Venture Company
Landmark deal signed on July 31, 2023, between Israel’s SolarEdge Technologies and Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros, forming a joint-venture company that will work on renewable energy in Saudi Arabia. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of SolarEdge Technologies Inc.)
Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization efforts get into high gear.
The two Middle East powerhouses have never been closer. In tow are fifty-seven Muslim-majority nations watching closely, considering Riyadh’s elevated position as home to Islam’s two holiest sites.
There is no deal yet to normalize ties, but we have several encouraging early signs. This is the biggest one, by far:
“SolarEdge Technologies Inc., an S&P 500 company based in Israel, is forming a joint venture with a Saudi Arabian firm to develop renewable energy, in a rare business collaboration between two countries that don’t formally recognize each other.” – Financial Post.
Jordan’s Al Bawaba news outlet covered the story with this interesting illustration of U.S., Israel, and Saudi flags:
The Jordanian outlet also used this image signifying a Saudi-Israel thaw:
Saudi and Israeli soccer fans hug at FIFA world cup on the Nikolskaya street in Moscow, Russia on June 22, 2018. (Photo Credit: Courtesy Al Bawaba via Shutterstock.)
The Saudi social media is abuzz with debates on ties with Israel [we saw a X (formerly Twitter) Space discussion underway – in Arabic – on the subject at the time of writing this newsletter].
Here is Loay Al-Sharif, a Saudi scholar fluent in Hebrew, arguing with netizens on X about why he defends Israeli policies in discussions with his Arab social media followers: “’Why are you defending Israel? They don’t need you!’ Well, my friend, I am not defending Israel. I am safeguarding a heritage that I consider part of my heritage too! The Jewish heritage is an integral part of Islam, and most of the Prophets and kings we believe in were Israelites.”
Anti-Jewish and anti-Israel content is now being purged from Saudi textbooks, replaced with content that highlights shared Muslim-Jewish values and history. See an example below:
Saudi Arabia removed anti-Israeli and antisemitic content from textbooks (Source: ynetnew.com)
There was no formal Saudi announcement about this change in Saudi textbooks, but researchers recently revealed the purging of antisemitic content. See No more ‘monkeys’ and ‘pigs’: Anti-Israeli content removed from textbooks in Saudi Arabia. [If you are intrigued about these references, which extremists in the Middle East continue to use, see what Loay Al-Sharif says about them in his X thread above. You can also listen to Rabbi Tovia Singer explain it. (Thank you to Mohammed Abbasi, Co-Director of Association of British Muslims for sharing this video with us, and for his work combating Antisemitism.]
Here is another sign:
Faisal J. Abbas, the editor-in-chief of Arab News, asked recently in an editorial: “Is Saudi normalization with Israel possible?” and gave a long answer in the article with this line capturing its essence: “[I]t is highly likely that such a deal might be possible.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was in the kingdom on Thursday with a high-powered delegation that met with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS. They discussed Yemen and oil prices, but an Israel-Saudi breakthrough was high on the agenda, although both the official Saudi statement and the White House readout did not explicitly mention it.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia welcomed Jack Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress, who posted a selfie in a tweet that read, “I am in #SaudiArabia where the general mood is a growing sense of uncertainty about #Washington,” a reference to American presidential election at the time.
And, in January 1992, Saudi Arabia publicly welcomed an American Jewish Congress delegation, the first pro-Israel American group to be formally engaged by Riyadh. The delegation was headed by former president of American Jewish Congress, Robert Lifton. The visits of Jack Rosen, the incumbent president of American Jewish Congress, and that of Lifton’s, establish a strong record for the organization in dealing with Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The Washington Post and the New York Times covered those visits, with the Times coming up with this apt title to describe the breakthrough made by the American Jewish Congress: Jews and Saudis Hold First Talks in Saudi Arabia.
The New York Times covered American Jewish Congress’s landmark visit to Saudi Arabia and meeting with its foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on Jan. 22, 1992. (Source: nyt.com)
In short, the Saudis are a little jittery about formal ties with Israel without progress on Israel-Palestinian peace and when the Israeli government faces domestic political trouble. But Riyadh is also interested in a bold nuclear cooperation deal with Washington.
French Riviera? No, It’s Gaza. Here’s To Busting Another Anti-Israel Myth
(Photo credit: Palestinian news outlets released these pictures of the Gaza beach on Thursday, July 27, 2023. Thousands of Palestinians thronged the beach this week amid a heatwave across the region).
There’s the Gaza that anti-Israel disinformation presents in the media as a wretched strip of land suffering allegedly due to Israeli military action against Palestinian terror groups that control the strip.
But there is another Gaza the media often skips, where most Gazan Palestinians live normal lives, and even flourish, despite terror groups infesting neighborhoods.
These are images from Gaza beach last week (last week of July 2023), released by Palestinian news outlets online and curated by us here.
If you are interested in seeing more of normal Gaza life that belies the anti-Israel and pro-Hamas disinformation, check out the images and videos under the X (formerly Twitter) hashtag #GazaYouDontSee [just click the hashtag and it will open in another tab, or type it in Google or X search].
Thomas Friedman: Biden Weighing Mideast Deal That Could Impact Israeli Politics, Including Netanyahu’s Coalition Government
New York Times opinion columnist Thomas Friedman has been on a streak in recent weeks, interviewing President Biden and breaking several stories that impact U.S.-Israel relations and Israel-Saudi normalization.
His column on July 27, 2023 coincided with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan landing in Saudi Arabia.
But, more intriguingly, is the latest breaking-news story he offered, summed up in two words: “Annexation or normalization.”
Friedman argues that last week’s vote in Israeli parliament, stripping Israeli Supreme Court of powers to curb the executive, is a victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, but that Bibi, as the Israeli premier is sometimes called, could soon face difficult internal political choices if Saudis accept President Biden’s deal on normalization with Israel.
The deal could come with concessions for the Palestinians, and that could spark another huge debate inside Israel. Not a lot is known about the specifics in this deal, but Friedman calls it “some kind of U.S.-Saudi-Israeli-Palestinian understanding.”
Israeli Protests Impress Arab Neighbors
A famous Jordanian cartoonist’s take on Israel’s judicial reform debate. It is one of many examples that show how Israel’s Arab neighbors took keen interest in Israel’s noisy democracy. (Photo credit: Roi Kais from Israel state broadcaster Kan)
In a region that has a troubled relationship with dissent and democracy, Arab media and citizens in neighboring Arab states watched the protests in Israel in awe.
Roi Kais, Arab affairs correspondent for Israel’s state broadcaster, Kan, noticed this interesting cartoon by Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj. Hajjaj likened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform push to Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt. [The Exodus deeply resonates with Arab Muslims because the Quran devotes a lot of space to the story].
Israeli journalist Noga Tarnopolsky offered a pithy comment on the cartoon: “”Israel divided. Bibi’s exodus.” So, while Israel debates and protests, the sight of a thriving Israeli democracy in a difficult region is an important takeaway.
“Preserve Israel’s Unity,” Jack Rosen’s Message To Israeli Leaders As Parliament Voted Controversial Bill Last Week
(Photo credit: Infographic by American Jewish Congress)
Just as Israel’s judiciary vote drew a global audience last week, Jack Rosen, President of American Jewish Congress, appealed to Israeli leaders to “find compromise; maintain unity and civil discourse.” It is an important message. Read the entire statement and help us by sharing the following social media posts that carried this statement: On X (Twitter), on our Facebook Page, and on AJCongress.org website.
Top Spy Chiefs of U.S. And U.K. Offer Rare Insights Into Internal Workings of Iran-Russia Ties
(Photo credit: a YouTube screenshot by jewishinsider.com that shows CIA Director William Burns at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday, July 20, 2023.)
Top spy chiefs of the United States and the United Kingdom provided important insights last week into the Iran-Russia relationship. CIA Director William Burns spoke during the recently concluded Aspen Security Forum 2023, an annual event on national security and foreign policy challenges. And Richard Moore, Chief of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, made a rare speech around the same time in Europe.
CIA’s Burns said that Russia’s provision of advanced fighter jets to Iran, in exchange for Iranian drones in Ukraine, could threaten Israel, Saudi Arabia and other American allies in the region.
MI6’s Moore revealed that Iran’s drone sales to Russia provoked “internal quarrels at the highest level of the regime in Tehran.”
Iranian leaders fought internally over these sales because they were worried about American and European reactions, Burns said in his separate remarks at Aspen.
The Jewish Insider published a report on this, worth a read.
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