Saudi Arabia arrests Israel critics

Published 7 May 2024 at 10.21

Foreign. It is not only in the United States and other Western countries that freedom of expression is restricted to stop criticism of Israel. In Saudi Arabia, people who criticized Israel on social media have been cracked down on, Middle East Monitor reports.

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According to Bloomberg, one of those arrested is a former executive involved in Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's economic development initiatives, including the Vision 2030 project.

Another has reportedly called on Saudi citizens to boycott American brands in Saudi Arabia, and a media profile arrested reportedly said Israel should never be forgiven.

Saudi Arabia is a radical Muslim state but at the same time in the hands of the United States and thus by extension Israel. There is therefore a large discrepancy in how the population and the regime view the Israel-Palestine conflict.

A source close to the Saudi government who does not wish to be named states that the arrests are motivated by concerns about potential threats to the country's security from pro -Iranian environments.

There is no official data on how many people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia since October 7, 2023 for criticizing Israel.

However, the raids coincide with ongoing efforts by US to “normalize” relations between the Saudis and Israel.

During a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that intense negotiations over the past week were “potentially very close to completion”. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly announced that it will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established.