Saudi Arabia arrests Israeli reporter in Mecca

• A Saudi Arabian has been detained for allegedly assisting a non-Muslim in entering the holy city of Mecca.
• Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and did not join the US-brokered Abraham Accords with two of its neighbours.
• Following US President Joe Biden’s visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia last week, controversy erupted.

Saudi Arabian who is accused of assisting a non-Muslim in entering the holy city of Mecca has been detained, police in the kingdom announced on Friday Following online criticism of an Israeli journalist.

In defiance of a ban on non-Muslims, journalist Gil Tamary of Israel’s Channel posted a video to Twitter on Monday showing himself smuggling into Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

Mecca regional police have “referred a citizen” to prosecutors for alleged complicity in “transferring and facilitating the entry of a (non-Muslim) journalist”, a police spokesperson said in comments reported by the official Saudi Press Agency.

SPA did not name the journalist but said he is an American citizen, whose case has also been referred to prosecutors “to take the necessary procedures against him in accordance with the applied laws”.

Despite growing behind-the-scenes business and security contacts, Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw the Jewish state establish ties with two of the kingdom’s neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In his roughly 10-minute clip, Tamary visits Mount Arafat, where robed Muslim pilgrims gather to pray during the climax of the hajj pilgrimage each year.

He makes clear he knows that what he’s doing is outlawed but says he wanted to showcase “a place that is so important to our Muslim brothers and sisters”.

Tamary’s explanation and subsequent apology did little to quell the outrage on Saudi social media.

Following US President Joe Biden’s visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia last week, the controversy erupted.

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