WarSclerotic

A senior Saudi commentator has called for establishing “peace with ‎Israel” and ending the hatred ‎of Jews in the Arab world, the Middle ‎East Media Research Institute reported Thursday.‎

In a series of recent tweets, Abdulhameed AlHakeem, until recently ‎the director of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal ‎Studies in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, expressed support for Israel’s ‎right to exist, ‎ congratulated the Jewish state on its 70th ‎anniversary and acknowledged Israel’s historical link to Jerusalem. ‎

He also called on Saudi Arabia and Israel to establish full ‎diplomatic ties and open embassies in Riyadh and ‎Jerusalem, creating the hashtag (in Arabic) “#we_want_Israeli_Embassy_in_Riyadh.”‎

AlHakeem said Israel is a buffer against Iranian hostility in the Middle ‎East, and called for the eradication of the culture of hatred for Jews in the ‎Arab world, including by amending school curricula.‎

‎”What is the significance of opening an Israeli embassy in Riyadh ‎and a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem? It means announcing the death ‎of the Iranian plan that spread chaos [in the Middle East] via ‎political Shiite Islam, and also the death of Sunni political Islam and ‎the creation of a new and better Middle East for the peoples of the ‎region. History will remember that [Saudi Crown Prince] ‎Mohammed Bin Salman was the one who saved the region,” he ‎tweeted. ‎

In an April interview with U.S. magazine The Atlantic, the crown ‎prince said Israelis “are entitled to live peacefully on their own land.” ‎

In previous comments, AlHakeem stressed the common interests ‎shared by Israel and the Arab world in light of the Iranian threat. ‎

In response to Prime Minister ‎Benjamin Netanyahu’s April 30 press conference at which he exposed a trove of ‎Iranian documents proving Tehran had deceived the world about ‎the true nature of its nuclear program, AlHakeem wrote, “Israel ‎acquired details of the nuclear program of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s most ‎dangerous enemy.

“The Saudi citizen, at this historic ‎juncture, [must] choose between an alliance with the Turkish plan, which ‎aims to subjugate [Saudi Arabia] – either in the guise of a caliphate ‎or [under the banner of] nationalism, whose failure has been ‎proved – and peace with Israel so as to contend with [the] Iranian enemy and grant his homeland a leading role. The ‎choice of peace with Israel first and foremost serves the interests of ‎his homeland.”‎

A second tweet that evening said, “Message to societies in the Gulf: ‎Who stands with us now as one man to confront the Iranian ‎ambitions? Certainly not the weak, unaware Arabs, and certainly ‎not Turkey, which has strategic interests with Iran ‎and which does not place our issues at the top of its agenda. The ‎one who stands with us and even blocks the Iranian regime’s ‎aggression is Israel. Let us establish peace with Israel, for our Gulf ‎is in danger.”‎

In a tweet on April 19, AlHakeem congratulated ‎Israel on its 70th Independence Day, writing, “I congratulate the ‎Israeli public on the occasion of Independence Day and take this ‎opportunity to say to the Arab public: The Jews have a ‎historical right to the State of Israel, as proved by the monotheistic ‎scriptures and the history of the region. In 70 years, Israel has ‎become a First World country. You will gain nothing by denying ‎their right other than weakness and sectarian wars ‎orchestrated by the Iranian regime – your true enemy.”‎

MEMRI quoted another controversial tweet, posted on May 14, ‎‎in which AlHakeem congratulated Israel on the opening of the U.S. ‎Embassy in Jerusalem, a step that infuriated the Palestinians ‎and the Arab world.‎

‎”I congratulate the people and the government in the State of Israel ‎on this historic occasion. When I visited Jerusalem, I found a First ‎World city and I observed that Israeli society respects its holy ‎capital and the culture of freedom of worship within it. I thanked ‎God that Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are all under the ‎management of regimes that respect the sanctity of these cities ‎and have transformed them into some of the most beautiful cities in ‎the world.”‎

AlHakeem ‎visited Israel in July 2016 as part of a Saudi delegation ‎headed by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Anwar Eshki, chairman of the Middle ‎East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies. The delegation of businessmen and academics sought to promote the 2002 Arab ‎Peace Initiative, also known as the Saudi initiative. ‎

While in Israel, Eshki‎ met separately with then-Foreign Ministry ‎Director General Dore Gold and Coordinator of Government ‎Activities for the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai.‎

In December 2017, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s historic ‎recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, AlHakeem tweeted, “Let ‎us be logical and clarify: Jerusalem is a holy city to the Jews and ‎they have a historical right to it, just as Mecca and Medina are holy ‎to Muslims. It is better that Jerusalem be administered by Israel, ‎which allows Muslims to visit Al-Aqsa, than it be under Arab ‎administration, which will transform it into a floundering Third World ‎city. The achievement of peace and the cessation of bloodshed are ‎more precious to us than stones and territories.”‎

Most recently, AlHakeem expressed support for Israel in its conflict ‎with the Palestinians, while leveling criticism at Hamas and the ‎Palestinian Authority. ‎

In an April 30 tweet responding to a tweet by the Israeli Foreign ‎Ministry’s spokesperson that condemned the PA’s glorification of ‎terrorists, AlHakeem ‎wrote, “The PA must decide which side it is on: ‎the side of peace or the side of terror. It must confront its people ‎with reality, which is that applauding the dead [terrorists] and their ‎terror means continues the saga of [Palestinian] suffering and the ‎exploitation of their blood, and that their lives are more precious ‎than a piece of land or the stones of a mosque. ‎

‎”[The PA] should announce that it accepts Trump’s decision about ‎Jerusalem and take advantage of it to achieve peace, for if not, ‎the PA and Hamas are two sides of the same coin.”‎

Commenting on the death of dozens of Palestinians in Hamas-‎orchestrated riots on the Gaza border, AlHakeem wrote, “The ‎demonstrations in Gaza broke out on orders from Tehran, as a ‎message to the U.S. about the decision to withdraw from the ‎nuclear agreement. ‎

‎”[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan continues to ‎carry out so-called acts of bravery [in] defeated ‎societies, starting with the [2010 Mavi Marmara] freedom flotilla, ‎continuing with the destruction of societies in the Arab Spring, and ‎culminating in his trading in the blood of Gaza. Turkey and Iran are ‎two sides of the same coin and they bear the responsibility along ‎with Hamas for every drop of blood [spilled] in Gaza.”