Saudi FM, US antisemitism envoy meet in Munich

Recent concerns focus on increased antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric in Saudi state media and sermons.

By JNS

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met on Saturday with U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said on X that they discussed efforts to promote dialogue and tolerance, combat extremism, and advance mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence and that adviser to the foreign minister Mohammed Al‑Yahya and Foreign Ministry Minister Plenipotentiary Manal Radwan also attended.

Kaploun described the meeting as enjoyable and productive, tagging the foreign minister and retweeting the Saudi ministry’s Arab-language statement on the meeting, including a picture of the two men.

The meeting comes amid increasing concern among Jewish and pro-Israel organizations over reports that Riyadh has paused Israeli normalization efforts and shown signs of realignment with regional Islamist governments, including Turkey and Qatar.

Recent concerns focus on increased antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric in Saudi state media and sermons.

On Jan. 30, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with American Jewish and pro-Israel leaders in Washington to discuss regional security, aiming to manage concerns over rising anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric in the kingdom.

The closed-door meeting focused on maintaining security cooperation against shared threats like the Iranian regime.