Zionist Reporter Illegally Tours Holy Mecca amid US Push for Normalization

TEHRAN (IQNA) – An Israeli reporter visited the holy city of Mecca, where non-Muslims are not allowed, just days after US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia with a push for normalization on his agenda.

In a video shared on his social media account, Gil Tamari who is Channel 13’s world news editor shows himself driving into the city and areas that the Saudi government bans non-Muslims from entering.

In another image, Tamari can be seen on Mount Arafat, near the holy city of Mecca where one of the most important rituals of the Hajj pilgrimage is performed annually.

Saudi authorities have not yet reacted to the visit which is said to be performed secretly as the reporter had come to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of covering Biden’s recent trip.

The illegal transgressing comes as reports point to efforts by Washington to normalize ties between the Israeli regime and Saudi Arabia.

Reference to the planned normalization can also be traced in a Washington Post op-ed penned by the US president, where he described his direct flight from Tel Aviv to Jeddah as a “small symbol” and “steps toward normalization” between the two sides.

Biden touched down in Israel on July 13 for his first trip to the occupied territories since assuming office in January 2020. He headed to the occupied West Bank two days later before leaving for Jeddah.

Biden met Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and other regional leaders during the high-profile visit, as earlier reports had named the normalization of ties between Arab countries and Israel as one of the main agendas of the trip.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco became the first Arab countries in decades to normalize relations with Israel in a deal brokered by former US President Donald Trump in 2020.

Riyadh has not officially jumped on the bandwagon yet, but interactions have been already in place between Riyadh and Tel Aviv for years despite the fact that Saudi Arabia had conditioned the normalization on the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

Palestinians and human rights activists have condemned the normalization agreements between Arab states and the Israeli regime as a “betrayal” to the Palestinian cause and a “stab in the back” of Palestinians.

Source: Agencies