Al-Rajhi in 'Israel': How MBS Implicated Saudi Arabia's Largest Family for His Benefit

A new shock to the rejectionists of normalization and defenders of the Palestinian cause resulted from the Saudi family of Al-Rajhi, the owner of the largest Islamic bank in the world when it became the largest shareholder in one of the most important Israeli companies.

The British website Middle East Eye revealed the deal on July 28, 2022, indicating that an investment company owned by al-Rajhi, one of the richest non-royal families in Saudi Arabia, became the largest shareholder of an Israeli automotive technology company.

 

Riyadh Transformation

Mithaq Capital, registered in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean and headquartered in Riyadh, has increased its stake in Tel Aviv-based automotive technology company Otonomo Technologies to 20.41 percent, according to a July 20, 2022 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mithaq Capital director Muhammad Asif Seemab attributed the move in his comment that they love "the innovation and technology culture that Israel has," adding, "We are trying to find ways to take advantage of that."

Al-Rajhi is one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and owns the world's largest Islamic bank, with assets of $125 billion, along with the Al-Rajhi Plastic and Sponge Factory and the National Chicken Manufacturing Company.

The partnership between Al-Rajhi and the Israeli company represents a coup d'état by Riyadh against its previous decision in July 2022, when it reviewed tariff concessions on imports from the Gulf states.

At the time, in a decision that was well received by many, measures were taken to exclude goods that contained a component made or produced "Made in Israel" or manufactured by companies wholly or partly owned by Israelis.

But according to observers, it seems that this decision had other economic dimensions competitive with the Gulf countries, especially since Western and Hebrew press reports always talk about secret commercial and security contacts and deals between Saudi officials and "Israel" amid extreme secrecy.

Interestingly, Al-Rajhi's partnership comes despite Saudi Arabia's official confirmation that it will not engage in normalization with the occupying entity of the land of Palestine, in a declared position since the normalization of the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco in 2020.

Observers believe that the Saudi company could have exploited the expertise of some Arab countries, especially Morocco and Egypt, in the field of cars, instead of the Israeli company, especially since Rabat has a great deal of experience in this industry.

According to Egyptian economist Ibrahim Nawar, Morocco is the most important car producer in Africa and took first place from South Africa.

International companies such as Renault-Nissan, Peugeot-Citroën-Opel, China's BYD, Italy's Fiat, Japan's Sumitomo, and Germany's Leoni operate in Morocco.

 

Not the Only One

It seems that the normalization of the UAE was a door from which Saudi Arabia implemented economic normalization secretly with the Israeli Occupation and to benefit from the technology of the Hebrew state in agriculture and water in particular.

In May 2022, the Wall Street Journal unveiled a $2 billion Saudi deal with a $3 billion fund set up by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, worth $3 billion, that invests in technology in Israeli companies.

This is not Saudi Arabia's first time, as it has invested in Israeli startups in America through an investment fund managed by Steven Mnuchin, a former Trump administration official, and with contracts with the US Defense Foundation.

On May 29, 2022, the Hebrew newspaper "Globes" revealed secret trade deals between Riyadh and Tel Aviv, confirming that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is paying for open relations behind the scenes through companies registered in Europe and other countries.

Saudi Arabia recently allowed Israeli businessmen to enter on special visas to seize the Red Sea Neom city project to make millions of dollars in trade deals and investments with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which are being implemented in the Kingdom in water and agricultural technologies.

She stressed that the Saudi wealth fund invested two billion dollars, with MBS's approval, in Israeli companies working in the field of advanced technology, hinting at the conclusion of security and intelligence cooperation agreements and Riyadh's purchase of Israeli security systems.

In the same context, Al-Monitor suggested that Saudi-Israeli (political) normalization may take time, but economic normalization has begun.

On June 2, 2022, the website quoted Israeli and Saudi sources as signing major deals between businessmen and managers of technology companies from both sides and investment funds in the Gulf state.

The American website talked about the visit of dozens of businessmen to Riyadh and Neom, the visit of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the coastal city, and the conclusion of deals worth millions of dollars in agriculture that include hydro technology necessary for the climate of the Saudi desert and other Israeli agricultural technologies.

Al-Monitor noted the launch of a direct flight from Tel Aviv to Riyadh on May 31, 2022, with American Jewish businessmen on a private jet.

He explained that the deals are between businessmen and the private sector, not between the two countries, and that the meetings occur in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Manama.

He pointed to the normalization of the security and intelligence fields, alluding to press reports about the sale of Israeli security systems to Saudi Arabia, including the Pegasus spyware.

The first public practical step in Saudi-Israeli relations was the decision of the Kingdom's aviation authorities on July 15, 2022, to open airspace to all air carriers without exception.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid acknowledged the secret meetings, saying, "After a long road of intense and covert diplomacy with Saudi Arabia and America, today we have good news."

 

Normalization From Underneath

Salahadin al-Awawdeh, a Palestinian researcher on Israeli affairs, said: "The strange thing about Saudi Arabia is that unlike the normalization of other Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which started normalization from head to bottom and prevented popular normalization, Riyadh is taking a normalization direction starting from below."

Speaking to Al-Estiklal, he explained that "Egypt was the first to sign a peace agreement with the entity in 1978, but normalization was limited to political levels, and the people were not allowed to do so, so the merchant who runs deals with Israel on security was being pursued and boycotted popularly, as well as in Jordan the government makes deals and the street revolts to cancel them like gas deals."

He added: "In the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia, normalization starts from the street, and here we mention the Saudi tweeter Mohammed Saud, who visited Jerusalem in mid-2019 and met with Israeli figures and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

"We recall Saudi writers, journalists, and newspaper editors who wrote articles in newspapers and spoke to Hebrew media, and meetings held at the level of retired former intelligence generals such as former Saudi intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal, and experts at the level of study centers who met with Israelis and Israelis who visited the Kingdom."

The researcher at the Vision Centre for Political Development in Istanbul stressed that "Saudi Arabia lets normalization rise from the bottom up, by directing popular circles and elites to normalize and strengthen relations with the entity before the leadership announces any official position."

He pointed out that this comes in conjunction with what is being raised about relations under the table, defense agreements, weapons purchases, coordination, and cooperation against common enemies (Iran).

"Therefore, Al-Rajhi's step comes in this context, and not a single Saudi can act, especially in a field related to international relations, except under the guidance and support of the royal family and the head of the Saudi regime, Prince Mohammed bin Salman," al-Awawdeh said.

He pointed out that these steps "come after the visit of (US President Joe) Biden to Jeddah in mid-July 2022, which strengthens this trend after news circulating about arms deals and security cooperation, and the transfer of the Egyptian islands (Tiran and Sanafir) to Saudi Arabia and in agreement and arrangement with Israel."

The Palestinian researcher stressed that "this investment from Al-Rajhi in Israeli companies is not the first there are investments in Israeli companies for the same company," considering that it is "a clear growth in an upward curve of Saudi normalization with the entity and support from the regime for popular normalization."

He believes that "what is dangerous about it is that before the announcement of official normalization, the people, the private sector, elites, and intellectuals are pushed towards it so that the official agreement comes from later on a ready and prepared environment."

He pointed out that "all the policies of the Kingdom in recent years, the most important of which is the allocation of the preacher of the day of Arafa Mohammed al-Issa, one of the participants in the normalization processes, comes in this framework, so Saudi Arabia goes in very accelerated steps, travels distances and shortens a lot of time."