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For Arab Gulf States, Israel Is Emerging as an Ally
(Wall Street Journal) Yaroslav Trofimov - Attitudes about Jews are beginning to change in some parts of the Arab world. Mohammad bin Abdul Karim al-Issa, secretary-general of the Saudi-based Muslim World League, recently pointed to a lesson in coexistence from Islam's past. "The neighbor of the Prophet [Muhammad] was a Jew, and when that Jew was ill, the Prophet visited him and gave him kind words," said Mr. al-Issa, who is also a former Saudi minister of justice. "The hard-liners don't wish to know that." The White House said Thursday that Mr. Trump's first foreign trip as president will feature stops in both Israel and Saudi Arabia. "We have the same enemy, the same threat," Saudi Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, the kingdom's deputy intelligence chief, said in February. "And we are both close allies of the Americans." Most of the influential TV news channels and pan-Arab newspapers are owned by the Gulf states. "On TV, we no longer hear the usual words 'Israeli aggression.' Now, it's mostly about the 'Persian aggression,'" said Ahmad al-Ibrahim, a Saudi political analyst.