DRAMAS TEST FOLK PULSE ON SAUDI-ISRAEL TIES

DAMMAM: Two Ramadan dramas on a Saudi-controlled TV network have stirred controversy as these test public perceptions of quietly warming relations between the Gulf kingdom and Israel. Most Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, have no official diplomatic ties with Israel.

But both sides are pursuing what one think tank calls a “tepid dance” to furtively build relations on the basis of shared animosity towards Iran.

Now, two taboo- busting series during the holy fasting month — the peak television season — have fueled speculation that Riyadh is trying to openly normalize closer ties with the

Jewish state.

A young character in “Exit 7,” which depicts the journey of a middle-class family through a rapidly modernizing Saudi Arabia, raised eyebrows when he befriended an Israeli boy through an online video game.

In another controversial scene, one Saudi character argues for building trade ties with Israel, saying Palestinians were the real “enemy” for insulting the kingdom “day and night” despite decades of financial support.

Another show called “Umm Haroun,” (“the mother of Haroun”), portrays a Jewish community in a village in Kuwait in the 1940s.

Social media piled scathing criticism on the shows, with multiple Twitter users saying their aim was to promote “normalization with Israel.”

The shows are produced by the influential Arab satellite network MBC, effectively under Saudi government control after its founder — media mogul Waleed al-Ibrahim — was detained with other elite businessmen at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in a 2017 anti-corruption campaign.

They stand in contrast to “The End,” a popular Egyptian sci- fi drama that provoked fury in Israel after it predicted the collapse of the Jewish state.

Analysts say television shows are useful for gauging Saudi public’s views on normalizing ties with Israel.