Saudi Authorities Arrest National Who Aided Israeli Journalist’s Illegal Entry to Mecca

© Twitter/Channel 13 Israeli-Jewish journalist Gil Tamary reports for Channel 13 from Mecca on July 17, 2022. The driver is a Saudi national who has been arrested by Mecca regional authorities. (Channel 13)
Israeli-Jewish journalist Gil Tamary reports for Channel 13 from Mecca on July 17, 2022. The driver is a Saudi national who has been arrested by Mecca regional authorities. (Channel 13) - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.07.2022
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On Monday, Israel’s Channel 13 aired footage of reporter Gil Tamary sneaking into the holy Islamic city of Mecca, openly defying the city’s ban on non-Muslims on the grounds. Although Channel 13 blurred the face and masked the voice of Tamary’s driver, authorities were able to track down the journalist’s companion.
Mecca regional authorities have “referred a citizen” for prosecution over alleged complicity in “transferring and facilitating the entry of a [non-Muslim] journalist,” according to a police spokesperson cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The journalist, who was not named in the initial release, has been identified as Gil Tamary, an Israeli-Jewish reporter with Channel 13 who has dual citizenship as an American citizen.
The case has been referred to prosecutors “to take the necessary procedures against him in accordance with the applied laws,” read the SPA report.
In a roughly 10-minute clip that debuted on Monday, Tamary is seen visiting Mount Arafat, the hill where many believe Prophet Muhammad delivered the Farewell Sermon.
The journalist acknowledges that he is breaking the the law by merely being in Mecca, but qualified his visit due to his desire to showcase "a place that is so important to our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
US President Joe Biden and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas speak together after their statements to the media at the Muqataa Presidential Compound in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on July 15, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.07.2022
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