Saudi Arabia has stepped up the arrest of citizens for social-media posts related to the Israel-Hamas war as the kingdom signals a readiness to agree to diplomatic relations with the Jewish state — if it commits to Palestinian statehood.

Detaining people for online comments — even those more than 10 years old — and restrictions on free speech and political expression are the norm in Saudi Arabia. Yet the recent spate of arrests are motivated by security concerns specifically linked to the deadly Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas and its aftermath, according to Riyadh-based diplomats and human rights groups.

Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, and left many more in urgent need of food and health care. That’s triggered a popular anti-Israel backlash across the Arab world and in Western countries including the U.S., where violent clashes have taken place on university campuses. Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested in the U.S. on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia and regional allies like Egypt and Jordan have been alarmed by the trend, fearing that Iran and Islamist groups could exploit the conflict to incite a wave of uprisings, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified due the delicate nature of the matter. Memories of the Arab Spring more than a decade ago remain fresh among regional rulers, who are desperate to avoid a repeat.

Recent Saudi detentions have included an executive with a company involved in the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic transformation plan — a cornerstone of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s agenda — according to people inside and outside Saudi Arabia with knowledge of the matter. The detainee expressed views on the Gaza conflict deemed by authorities to be incendiary, they said.

A media figure who said Israel should never be forgiven has also been arrested, the people said, as has an individual calling for the boycott of American fast food restaurants in the kingdom. The people shared information on condition that neither they nor those arrested be identified.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior and the government’s Human Rights Commission did not respond to requests for comment.

A person familiar with the Saudi government’s thinking acknowledged the arrests and attributed them to what he called a high level of alertness post-Oct. 7 and a desire by authorities to deter people from making online statements about the war that might impact national security.

Saudi opposition figures and activists are on Thursday in the U.S. holding their largest conference since the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a royal-court-insider turned critic, by Saudi agents in 2018. They are expected to unveil what they call “the people’s vision” for the kingdom which priortizes free speech and release of all political prisoners.

Hard Line

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