Saudi writer: Israelis are ‘lovely people’, tweeters attack her
Within the series of the Saudi normalization with Israel, prominent Saudi writer Souad Al-Shammari has publicly praised Israel, and accused Iran of being the true enemy of the Kingdom.
The writer expressed during her interview with the official Hebrew channel “Kan”, her wish to launch economic, cultural, and commercial cooperation “today rather than tomorrow”, between the Kingdom and Israel to devote normalization between them.
Al-Shammari said, “Israel is not an enemy, but Iran is.”
Al-Shammari commented on the bombings that hit Iran, during the past days, describing the Israelis as “lovely people”, saying: “If there are lovely people like you behind the bombings, then ‘go ahead’, don’t stop.”
These comments are not the first of their kind to show enthusiasm for normalization, promotion of drinking alcohol and drugs, and absolute support for the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Al-Shammari appeared in the Israeli media a year ago, and said that “visiting Israel is a dream of the Saudis and the Gulf.”
Since bin Salman became the Crown Prince of the Kingdom, normalization with Israel has been based on deliberate political and media plans, and Riyadh has made great strides in preparing the Arab atmosphere to coexist with a new stage whose most prominent title will be “full normalization with Israel.”
The Crown Prince’s disappointment and failure to confront Iran have contributed more to his country’s rapprochement with Israel, as evidenced over the past two years.
Perhaps the beginning of the indicators of normalization started in June 2017, when the hashtag “Saudis with normalization” was launched, days after the visit of US President Donald Trump to Riyadh on May 21 of the same year.
Perhaps the most recent indications of normalization took place on January 26, 2020, with Israel announcing that it will allow its citizens to visit Saudi Arabia, for the first time in history.
Saudi Arabia has neither denied nor confirmed these reports, and although officially there are no diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, recent years have witnessed great rapprochement between them, and relations have increased further.
On January 25, 2020, the “Israeli 12” channel presented a report prepared by the correspondent Henrique Cymerman on “modernization and openness” that is taking place in Saudi Arabia under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The channel stated that Cymerman Is one of the “numbered Israelis who were able to visit Saudi Arabia,” to see “the closed Kingdom that we may be able to be visited later.”
The channel pointed out that the reporter was able to meet the Saudi general Mohamed Sharif, who confirmed that “tourists are invited to visit Saudi Arabia, we want them to come to see our country and get to know it as much as possible.”
On December 5, 2019, the Israel Arabic page of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Twitter, published pictures showing a Jewish visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, confirming that this comes “as a result of breaking the barriers of doubt built over decades.”
