Saudi Arabia: Lions Against Muslims, Mice Before “Israel”
By Mohamad Hammoud
It calls itself the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, but since its inception, the Saudi state has been far more concerned with protecting its monarchy than defending the broader Muslim world. Across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Riyadh has repeatedly projected strength against fellow Muslim nations, funding wars, bankrolling coups, and undermining democratic movements. Yet when it comes to “Israel” - even as “Israeli” leaders speak openly of a “Greater Israel” — the Kingdom becomes meek and deferential. This selective courage is no accident; it is the defining feature of Saudi foreign policy.
From British Treaty to Hijaz Conquest
The Kingdom’s very birth was not rooted in Islamic unity but in alliance with imperial power. In 1915, Ibn Saud signed the Dara treaty with Britain, pledging loyalty in exchange for rifles and protection. While Muslims across the Ottoman Empire fought to defend the Caliphate during the First World War, Ibn Saud held back, waiting for his moment. That moment came in 1924–25, when the Ottomans were gone and the Hijaz lay weakened. Ibn Saud marched in, seizing Mecca and Medina. From the outset, the House of Saud learned that siding with the West could deliver greater rewards than standing in solidarity with fellow Muslims.
Oil, Dollars, and Dependence on Washington
That lesson deepened in the oil era. In the 1960s and 70s, Saudi oil exports to the United States surged, even as Washington waged war in Vietnam. Then came the 1974 petrodollar agreement: Saudi oil would be sold exclusively in U.S. dollars, with surplus revenues cycled through American banks and invested in Treasury bonds. In return, Washington guaranteed the monarchy’s survival. From that moment forward, Saudi Arabia’s fortunes were bound to America’s — and by extension to America’s closest regional ally, “Israel.”
Fueling Muslim Wars While Courting “Israel”
With Western backing assured, Riyadh unleashed its influence across the Muslim world. When the Iran–Iraq war erupted in 1980, the Saudis poured an estimated $25–30 billion into Saddam Hussein’s war chest, providing intelligence, subsidizing oil shortfalls, and even allowing AWACS aircraft to guide Iraqi bombing runs. In Egypt, when the country elected Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012, Riyadh saw a threat to its own authoritarian model. Within seventy-two hours of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s 2013 coup, the Saudis pledged $12 billion to cement the new regime and bury Egypt’s short-lived democratic experiment. In Yemen, beginning in 2015, Saudi airstrikes created one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. In Libya and Sudan, Saudi money and arms have helped tip the scales toward military strongmen willing to align with Riyadh’s regional agenda.
Lebanon: Manipulating Factions, Backing Warlords
Nowhere is Saudi interference more intricate — and more revealing — than in Lebanon. During the Lebanese Civil War, Riyadh’s financial lifelines bypassed Muslim factions such as the Sunni Future Movement or the Shia Amal and Hezbollah, directing instead toward the Christian Maronite Lebanese Forces militia. Led by Pierre Gemayel, Bachir Gemayel, and later Samir Geagea — all implicated in atrocities including the Sabra and Shatila massacre — the LF became a favored Saudi partner. Saudi funds paid for salaries, artillery imports, and, according to CIA officer Robert Ames, even coordinated with “Israel” to drop weapons over Mount Lebanon. In 1985, journalist Bob Woodward revealed that Saudi Arabia financed a CIA-backed car bombing attempt on Shiite cleric Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah — an operation that killed eighty civilians.
The Kingdom’s manipulation did not end when the war stopped. It has repeatedly pressured Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, even while “Israel” continued to occupy Lebanese land and violate its sovereignty. Many Lebanese believe Saudi Arabia has quietly opposed the development of Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, fearing that energy independence would loosen Beirut’s reliance on Gulf aid.
Saudi meddling also touched Lebanon’s highest office: some investigative reports have even linked Riyadh to the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In 2017, the Kingdom summoned his son and successor, Saad Hariri, forcing him to announce his resignation live on Saudi television. He was released only after French President Emmanuel Macron personally intervened.
The Silent Partner of “Israel”
Yet for all this aggression toward Muslim states, Saudi Arabia has treated “Israel” with striking caution. Though it has not officially recognized “Israel,” Riyadh quietly facilitated the Abraham Accords, opened its airspace to “Israeli” flights, and aligned with Tel Aviv against Iran. When “Israeli” prime ministers speak openly of a “Greater Israel” — an expansionist vision at the expense of Palestinians and neighboring Arab states — Riyadh remains silent. Against Muslim governments, it roars like a lion; before “Israel,” it behaves like a cornered mouse.
A Century-Long Pattern of Betrayal
This is not a collection of isolated incidents, but a century-long pattern. From siding with colonial powers against the Ottomans to financing wars between Muslim nations, from crushing democratic movements to aligning with “Israel” against shared rivals, Saudi Arabia has consistently chosen regime survival over Muslim solidarity. The brutality of this approach was laid bare in October 2018, when Saudi agents lured dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Inside, he was strangled, dismembered with a bone saw, and his remains vanished — an assassination carried out by a hit team linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s closest security circle.
As Khashoggi himself once warned, the Kingdom behaves “like it owns the Middle East and rents the world.” The rent is paid in dollars and oil — but the cost, measured in blood, is borne by others.
