Tag Archive for Saudi Arabia

Gallivanting Jewish Israeli blogger in Riyadh, Medina holy mosques outrages Saudis

Posting a hosts of selfies to Facebook and Instagram showing the Israeli Jewish blogger living it up in the Islamic Kingdom, while wearing a kefiyah, is causing an uproar in Saudi Arabia.

By Israel Today Staff

 

An Israeli Jewish blogger recently did what few others would dare by traveling (presumably on a foreign passport) to Saudi Arabia.

But Ben Tzion didn’t only go to Saudi Arabia, he let everyone know about it, in rather epic fashion, via Facebook.

Ben Tzion posted a number of selfies with both local officials and average Saudis.

In all of the shots, he was wearing an Arab headdress, or kefiyah, which along with his beard was the perfect disguise. Continue Reading »

Abbas in Saudi Arabia irks King on Hamas weapons, violence and Iranian ties

In Riyadh, PA despot Abbas was urged by Saudi Royals to distance the new Palestinian unified gov’t from Iran and not allow Hamas to stockpile weapons.

By i24NEWS

 

The West Bank and Gaza will benefit from large-scale Saudi investment projects if the Palestinian Authority joins the kingdom in taking an aggressive stance against Iran’s role in the Middle East, Palestinian sources privy to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday said.

Saudi officials, led by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, sought to persuade Abbas to take a tough stance on Hamas as it moves forward with joining the internationally-recognized Palestinian government. Continue Reading »

US St Dept: Video clip of Trump’s upcoming Saudi trip, with Israel deleted, was ‘inadvertent mistake’

 

Exposed faux pas recognized by State Department after learning that the US embassy in Saudi Arabia had ‘shared’ a video from the social media account of a private Saudi citizen, without realizing that ‘Israel’ had been edited out.
– WATCH clips, see if you spot the difference.

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN/JTA

 

The State Department called the posting of a video by the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia that removed Israel from an announcement about the president’s upcoming trip to the region an “inadvertent mistake.”

On Monday, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., criticized the State Department for “editing out” Israel in the video posted on the Riyadh embassy website and Arabic-language Twitter account. Continue Reading »

Hezbollah’s leader lashes out at Saudi Arabia’s ‘normalization with Israel’

 

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah claims Saudi Arabia seeks to normalize ties with the Jewish State at the expense of the Palestinian Arabs.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday blasted Saudi Arabia for its alleged “normalization with Israel.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah broadcasts televised speech from his secret underground bunker. – Photo: Reuters/file

“Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of the ailing Arab situation, only to build relations with Israel. The price will be at the account of the Palestinians,” he warned, in comments quoted by Lebanon’s National News Agency.

“This is free normalization with Israel and this will open the doors to other states than Saudi Arabia to follow suit,” added Nasrallah.

Continue Reading »

Unimpressed With US Promises About a Nuclear Iran, Saudis to Buy Pakistani Nukes

With Riyadh having said they would never be under threat of a nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia has been negotiating with Pakistan on its acquisition of nuclear weapons.

By Matt Wanderman

 

Saudi Arabia is trying to purchase nuclear weapons from Pakistan, according to senior US officials.

Nuclear cloud – Photo: US Navy

Saudi Arabia has expressed concerns over the way nuclear negotiations with Iran are being run. It has said that it fears the final agreement would allow Iran the capability of developing nuclear weapons, either by ignoring its obligations or by waiting a few years until the terms are over. Continue Reading »

Report: John Kerry to Offer Saudi Arabia Anti-Missile System & Bunker Busters

The Washington Times reports the U.S. is likely to offer the Saudis its advanced GBU-28 bunker buster bombs, that so far is only provided to Israel.

By Moshe Cohen

 

The United States is likely to offer Saudi Arabia its advanced GBU-28 bunker buster bombs – so far only provided to Israel – as Washington seeks to beef up Saudi Arabia’s ability to lead Gulf countries in defending themselves against Iranian moves in the region.

Bunker Buster – Screenshot

According to the report in the Washington Times, Secretary of State John Kerry will propose the idea to Saudi officials on his visit to that country this week.
Continue Reading »

The Saudi’s ‘United Arab Army’ is Targeting Iran, Not Israel

Discouraged over Washington’s (lack of?, or uncharacteristic) foreign policy, Saudi Arabia takes the helm to lead a ‘United Arab Army’ against Iran’s unsettling expansionism and world-wide terrorism.

By Gedalyah Reback

 

The Arab League has never been known for the unity that other international alliances have projected. NATO was a strong, American-led alliance throughout the Cold War (and in many ways still today); the European Union, for all its diversity, has a unified foreign policy.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman – Reuters

The Arab League on the other hand has been plagued by its members changing heads of state every few years or so in bloody revolutions. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu’s predictions actualizing as Saudi prince says deal with Iran risks local arms race

In warning that a nuclear deal with Iran will spur nuclear proliferation in the Gulf, former Saudi intelligence chief says, ‘If Iran is allowed the ability to enrich uranium… we’ll want the same.’

By Ynet

 

Any terms that world powers grant Iran under a nuclear deal will be sought by Saudi Arabia and other countries, risking wider proliferation of atomic technology, a senior Saudi prince warned on Monday in a BBC interview.

US Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh – Photo: AFP

“I’ve always said whatever comes out of these talks, we will want the same,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, who has previously served as head of Saudi intelligence and Riyadh’s ambassador to Washington and London but is no longer a government official. Continue Reading »

Al-Arabiya Editor Suggests Obama Heed Netanyahu’s Counsel

In an unexpected op-ed posted by the editor-in-chief of a fiercely anti-Israel newspaper, Faisal Abbas admits ‘this time’ Netanyahu is right, and Iran must be dealt with.

By Ari Yashar

 

Al-Arabiya‘s English edition editor-in-chief Faisal J. Abbas wrote a surprising op-ed on Tuesday, calling on US President Barack Obama to listen to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after the latter addressed Congress on the dangers of an Iran nuclear deal being formulated.

Netanyahu – YouTube screenshot

Abbas, whose paper is openly anti-Israel and Saudi-owned, began by scornfully conceding “it is extremely rare for any reasonable person to ever agree with anything Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says or does. 

Continue Reading »

Saudi Columnist Supports Netanyahu, Condemns Obama’s “Foolish Behavior”

Top Saudi government-controlled paper says Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech will serve Gulf interests “much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents.”

By Hillel Fendel

 

A look at Saudi Arabia’s news media shows that the Persian Gulf monarchy stands squarely behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s efforts Tuesday in Congress.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman – Reuters

In an article in Monday’s edition of the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah (no relation to the Qatar-based television network), columnist Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj comes out strongly against U.S. President Barack Obama. “I believe that Netanyahu’s conduct will serve our interests, the people of the Gulf,” he writes, “much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents.”
Continue Reading »

In the Absence of US Restrictions on Iran, Saudis Slash Oil Prices to ‘Block’ Nuclear Weapon Investment

Israeli analysts agree, since the US is no longer curtailing Iran’s nuclear program, the  profound drop in oil prices due to the Saudis flooding market is seriously affecting Iran’s spending.

By Ari Yashar

 

Oil prices have nosedived from $115 a barrel last August to under $60 a barrel by the middle of this month, with many analysts, in the wake of Arutz Sheva columnist and Middle East expert Dr. Mordecai Kedar, appraising that Saudi Arabia has intentionally caused the price drop as a weapon against Iran, over fears of a deal giving the Islamic regime nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah – Reuters

As the US-led talks continue to meet and breach deadlines and Iran demands enough centrifuges to build 38 nuclear bombs each year, the oil prices are seen as way the Saudis can directly harm their Iranian rivals.
Continue Reading »

American Rabbi: In “Dealing with Savages,” Arabs in Israel “must be vanquished”

‘There’s a war for the land of Israel that’s being waged, & the Arabs who dwell in the land of Israel are the enemy in that war,’ wrote the rabbi of a major modern Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey.

By Ben Sales

 

JTA — The rabbi of a major modern Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey has written a blog post that calls for Israel to collectively punish Arab Israelis and Palestinians until they realize “they have no future in the land of Israel.”

Israeli Arabs wave Palestinian flags during a rally in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Sakhnin

Israeli Arabs waving Palestinian flags during a rally in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Sakhnin on March 30, 2013 commemorating the 37th anniversary of ‘Land Day.’

Continue Reading »

Saudi Prince declines invitation to Israel by ex-IDF intel chief

Former Israeli intelligence chief Amos Yadlin says Jerusalem rejects Saudi peace initiative because Arab League made it a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ deal.

By

 

Saudi royal declined invitation by former Israeli intelligence chief to visit Jerusalem at a public talk in Belgium Monday, saying that the invitation was mere appeal to emotion aimed at distracting from the subject of the discussion – reaching peace based on the Saudi peace initiative.

Turki bin Faisal Al Saud

Turki bin Faisal Al Saud – Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Marc Müller

Amos Yadlin, who headed the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate for four years until 2010, made the statement during a public talk in Brussels with Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, director of the General Intelligence of Saudi Arabia from 1979 to 2001 and the youngest son of the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Continue Reading »

Saudi Kingdom debuts country’s acquired ballistic missiles

 

Saudi Arabia unveils for the first time missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads purchased from China.

Israel used to be the Saudi’s main target, but Jerusalem & Riyadh now have a common enemy – Iran.

By Udi Etzion

 

Saudi Arabia showcased its new ballistic missiles in the country’s military parade on Thursday. The Chinese-made Dongfeng-3 missiles have a range of up to 3,300 kilometers and are armed with nuclear warheads.

Saudi Arabia's Ballistic Missiles (Photo: Fisher Institute)

Saudi Arabia’s Ballistic Missiles – Photo: Fisher Institute

In the past, sources voiced concern that the Saudi missile’s main target is Israel, but due to the growing strategic rivalry between the Riyadh and Tehran, Iran has become the primary enemy. Continue Reading »

Possible deadly pandemic from Saudi Arabia threatens the planet

With no vaccine or anti-viral treatment for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS),  Saudi health authorities say the disease, which originated in camels, may simply die out.

 

A deadly virus that is spreading at record speed through Saudi Arabia could go global later this year when the 2014 haj (Muslim pilgrimage) begins, according to an article published by BuzzFeed.

Health workers

Health workers wear face masks at the General Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this week. – Photo: AFP

The total number of confirmed infections of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has jumped by a third in the kingdom in the past week. Continue Reading »