Police in Mecca say they have arrested a Saudi man who helped an Israeli-Jewish reporter sneak into Islam’s holiest city, defying a rule that only Muslims can enter the area.
The public backlash over television reporter Gil Tamary’s visit was immediate on social media, with Muslims and Saudis expressing their anger over his deception and apparent disregard for the sanctity of the site.
The outcry appears to have prompted Saudi police late on Friday to announce the arrest of the Saudi man who they say facilitated the entry of the journalist into Mecca in explicit violation of regulations prohibiting the entry of non-Muslims.
The Saudi male national, whose identity was not revealed, was referred to prosecution and remains under arrest.
The veteran reporter for Channel 13 in Israel filmed himself in Mecca for a roughly 10-minute-long segment that aired on Monday in which he visited a key site on the Haj pilgrimage route where Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon some 1,400 years ago.
He made clear he knowingly had slipped into Mecca with a driver, saying he is speaking in Hebrew quietly so no one can hear him. He claimed to be the first Israeli Jew ever to enter the city. He did not identify himself as Israeli or Jewish to the driver during the recordings.
