Saudi Arabia appears to be in the middle of an attempt to rebrand the kingdom as progressive and, judging from the headlines since last year, the strategy appears to be working, at least to some extent.
Last September, the kingdom announced it would finally allow women to drive. One month later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he wanted to return to a “moderate Islam.”
Now, in an interview with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, the crown prince has acknowledged that Jewish people have a right to their own homeland — long a taboo for the conservative kingdom that was known as a fierce foe of Israel’s creation. The remarks come as the crown prince is seeking closer economic and security ties with Israel.
“Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a lot of strong allies left who could confront Iran, which is why Israel has become its second-most important military ally, right after the United States,” said Sebastian Sons, an associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on Saudi Arabia.