RIYADH: As a result of online anger against an Israeli journalist, the police in the Saudi Arabia made an announcement on Friday that they had arrested.
Saudi man who had assisted a non-Muslim in entering the holy city of Makkah. This news came shortly after the internet backlash.
Saudi Arabia Arrested Israeli Reporter:
A Saudi national is taken into custody following the penetration of the holy city of Makkah by an Israeli journalist.
On Monday, Gil Tamary, a journalist working for Israel’s Channel 13, disobeyed a limit on non-Muslims visiting Makkah by releasing a video of himself entering the city on Twitter.
This was done in order to circumvent the restriction.
The official Saudi Press Agency quoted a police spokeswoman as saying that the police in the Makkah region have “referred a citizen” to prosecutors for alleged collaboration in “transferring and supporting the arrival of a (non-Muslim journalist.” The statement was made by the police spokeswoman.
According to SPA, the case involving the journalist has been referred to prosecutors “to take the legal processes against him in line with the applied legislation.” Although SPA did not identify the journalist, it did note that he is a citizen of the United States.
The official spokesman for the Makkah Police Department emphasized that all visitors to the kingdom are expected to uphold the law and comply with its requirements, particularly in regard to the Two Holy Mosques and holy sites, and that any violations of this nature will not be tolerated and will result in penalties according to the relevant regulations.
In particular, the official spokesman for the Makkah Police Department emphasized that all visitors are expected to uphold the law and comply with the requirements of the holy sites.
Despite growing covert economic and security ties between the two countries, Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and did not sign the Abraham Accords in 2020, which were brokered by the United States and allowed the Jewish state to establish connections with two of the kingdom’s neighbors: the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Mount Arafat, where tens of thousands of veiled Muslims converge for prayer during the annual Hajj trip, serves as the setting for the climactic portion of Tamary’s video, which lasts approximately ten minutes.
He admits that what he did was illegal, but he defends it by claiming that he intended to bring attention to “a site that is so significant to our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
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In spite of the fact that Tamary provided an explanation and apologized for her actions, Saudi citizens on social media reacted with overwhelming displeasure to her statements.
The fact that Vice President Joe Biden of the United States visited both Israel and Saudi Arabia in the same week generated quite a commotion.
Israel has expressed its disagreement with the veracity of the broadcast story.
The Israeli official who voiced their disapproval of Tamary’s report on Wednesday referred to it as “dumb and destructive” to the relationships that exist between Israel and the Gulf.
It was a bad thing to do and take satisfaction in, Israeli Muslim Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Freij told Israel’s National Television Kan. “I’m sorry (but) it was a dumb thing to do and take pleasure in,” he said.
Because it would have been irresponsible and damaging to do so, this item should not have been broadcast with the intention of gaining ratings.
The efforts being promoted by the United States to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to Freij, were hampered as a result of the report.
