A Saudi blogger who hosted two Israeli tourists in his home has come into the spotlight after Israel's foreign ministry Twitter account in Arabic praised him for his hospitality.
يسعدنا أن نرى مضافة السعودي@mohsaud08 الذي زارنا يحتفي بضيوفه من #إسرائيل ولا شك أن هذا نتيجة كسر حواجز الشك التي تم بناؤها على مدى عقود .يقال إن السعة في القلوب وان شاء الله المزيد من اللقاءات والتعارف ونرحب بالجميع في ديارنا. والله يديم الكرم???? https://t.co/RLOpFhKsWn
— إسرائيل بالعربية (@IsraelArabic) December 4, 2019
Translation: "It pleases us to see the Saudi @mohsaud08 who had visited us, celebrating with his guests from Israeli and no doubt this is the result of breaking barriers of doubt that have been built over the decades. God willing there will be more gatherings and friendships and we welcome all in our homes. May God preserve generosity."
Mohammed Saud shared videos in which he and his guests, Avi and Beni, sang traditional Jewish songs together and exchanged pleasantries.
ביקור היסטורי של שני חברים שלי שבאו לבית שלי, אבי ובני יהודים נפלאים ושרנו יחד שירים יהודיים
— محمد سعود Mohammed Saud מוחמד סעוד (@mohsaud08) December 5, 2019
It was a historic visit by two of my friends, Avi & Beni, two wonderful Jews who came to my house, we sang Jewish songs pic.twitter.com/NhbM2BldjX
The Israeli guests appear in the videos wearing traditional Saudi dress alongside their host. Avi is also pictured visiting tourist landmarks.
بالصور.. قام سائح يهودي بزيارة الى المملكة العربية السعودية مؤخرا، واستقبل بترحيب حار من قبل السكان السعوديين. pic.twitter.com/VskvcjRYmd
— إسرائيل بالعربية (@IsraelArabic) December 4, 2019
Saud's Twitter profile cover features the Saudi and Israeli flags and even though he describes himself as a non-political activist, his bio includes the hashtags #likud and #only_bibi referring to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his party. He also tweets almost exclusively in Hebrew.
Saudi and Israeli relations have historically been tense but since the kingdom began implementing drastic reforms including the introduction of tourist visas, a new relationship is beginning to form both politically and culturally.
Up until a few months ago, reactions to Saud's video and Israel's publicity of the visit would never have been quite this supportive.
اهلاً و سهلاً به في #السعودية ??
— سكينة المشيخص (@sukinameshekhis) December 6, 2019
للأسف لمرتين خسرت زيارة #اسرائيل بسبب ظروف خاصة ، ربما في المستقبل أستطيع أن ازورها ..
قلتها سابقاً لم تعد #اسرائيل عدو و ظروف السياسة متغيرة .. https://t.co/tPTZqItJrJ
Translation: "Welcome to Saudi. Unfortunately twice I've missed the chance to visit Israel due to personal reasons, but maybe in the future I'll be able to visit. I've said it before, Israel is no longer an enemy and political circumstances change."
ياحبيبي السعوديه فاتحه ابوابها للجميع مرحباً بك??❤️??
— Abdullah Algamdi (@abdullGh) December 6, 2019
تنويه: العنصري، وكاره الاديان، وبالأخص تجار القضيه غير مرحب بهم ❌
Translation: "Saudi's doors are open for all, welcome. Disclaimer: racism, hate against religions, especially those who exploit the [Palestinian] cause, is not welcome."
Still, there were many voices online who objected to the normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations citing long-term political differences.
للأسف تغريدة غير موفقه!!!
— صالح مبارك بانعمان (@Saleh_banoman) December 6, 2019
نرفض هذه الاصوات في الوطن العربي تحت أي مبررات... ❌❌
الكيان الصهيوني عدو متربص للعرب.
Translation: "An unfortunate tweet! We reject these voices in the Arab world under any justification. The Zionist entity is an enemy of Arabs."
على ما اعتقد ان فيه فرق بين اليهودي والاسرائيلي.
— هايس الشمري (@HaiesAlshammari) December 4, 2019
ما عندنا مشكلة مع الديانة اليهودية، اهلا وسهلا بهم. لكن لدينا مشكلة سياسية مع الكيان الصهيوني او ما تسمونها "اسرائيل".
Translation: "There is a difference between a Jewish person and an Israeli. We don't have a problem with the Jewish faith, welcome to our country. But we do have a political problem with Zionists or what you call "Israel."
While there are no official diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi there have been instances in the past of Saudi officials defending Israeli interests behind closed doors, particularly when it comes to the common threat they face from Iran and Iranian-backed groups like Hezbollah.
More and more, both countries are becoming more publicly vocal about their changing relationship and in turn the public seems to be responding favorably toward their normalized ties.