by Jalal Tagreeb,
Screengrab via Youtube.
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In a video that has circulated widely across Arabic-speaking platforms, Khaled Hassan delivered a searing indictment of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, one that, whether he intended it or not, serves as a powerful vindication of Israel’s strategic position in the Middle East. Hassan’s analysis, sharp and unsparing, was aimed at Saudi Arabia and what he called its “kingdom of fear, submission, and hypocrisy.” But in laying bare Riyadh’s paralysis and contradictions, Hassan inadvertently stripped away the last remaining pretexts for the Arab world’s hostility toward Israel. What emerges from his critique is a devastating truth. Iran is the existential menace in this region, and Israel, far from being the aggressor, has long been the rational actor that much of the Arab world secretly wishes it could emulate.
Hassan begins by drawing attention to a remarkable article published in May 2026 by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former director of Saudi intelligence for more than two decades. In that piece, the prince warned that had Israel succeeded in “igniting war” between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region would have been “plunged into ruin and destruction,” with thousands of Saudi sons and daughters killed.
On its face, this appears to be a warning against Israeli “adventurism.” But Hassan rightly presses the more alarming truth buried within that framing: a senior former intelligence chief of the most oil-wealthy Arab state just admitted publicly that Iran, a country under severe international sanctions, with an air force so outdated it cannot acquire a single modern fighter jet, could devastate Saudi Arabia.
Let that sink in. Saudi Arabia, which has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the most sophisticated American weaponry, which boasts the most advanced air defense systems money can buy, is afraid. Afraid enough that its former intelligence chief will not frame a war with Iran as something Saudi Arabia could win, but as something that would bring mass death to the Kingdom.
This is not a minor rhetorical inconsistency. This is a fundamental admission of strategic impotence dressed up as a plea for peace. And it stands in glaring contradiction to what Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself declared years ago, that Iran represents no real threat, that it is a lesser state incapable of challenging Saudi power. As Hassan presses with visible frustration: which Saudi Arabia should the world believe? The one that calls itself a regional superpower, or the one whose former intelligence chief trembles at the prospect of Iranian drones?
Perhaps the most damning evidence Hassan presents is the Crown Prince’s own words. In a previous interview, Mohammed bin Salman called Iran’s Supreme Leader “the new Hitler of the Middle East,” warning that Khamenei had expansionist desires and wanted to “create his own project in the Middle East, very much like Hitler”. The world applauded. Here, finally, was an Arab leader who understood the nature of the Iranian threat, a leader who would stand firm against Tehran’s aggression. Yet fast forward to July 2026, and what do we see? A Saudi delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji, traveling to Tehran to offer condolences on the death of the very man the Crown Prince had compared to Hitler. The same regime that had launched drone and missile attacks on Saudi soil, that had threatened the lives of thousands of Saudis, was now being honored by the very kingdom it had terrorized.
Hassan captures the absurdity with devastating clarity, “They are going to offer condolences to the person who was killing their fathers… the person the Crown Prince himself called Hitler”. The Saudi delegation signed the official condolence book, expressing the Kingdom’s “sympathies and respect”. They stood in Tehran as Iranian media and officials, including the UAE commentator Mohammed Taqi, who quoted Quranic verses branding the Saudis as the “disbelieving faction”, humiliated them publicly.
Notably absent from this degrading spectacle was the United Arab Emirates. As Hassan points out, the UAE, which he calls a “state of honor and courage”, sent no delegation to mourn Khamenei. The Emirates, which had the courage to sever diplomatic ties with Iran after its aggression, understood what Saudi Arabia apparently did not: that you do not grovel before the regime that has threatened your people, attacked your infrastructure, and destabilized your region. The contrast could not be starker. While Saudi Arabia dispatched high-level delegations to Tehran, the UAE maintained its dignity and its principles. This is the difference between genuine statecraft and what Hassan rightly calls “submission and hypocrisy.”
When Saudi journalist Davood Al-Sharyan attempted to defend the delegation, arguing that the condolence visit “falls within the Saudi approach to managing regional relations and maintaining communication channels,” Hassan’s response was withering. He asked the obvious question: Had Iran apologized for killing Saudis? Had Iran apologized for launching drones and ballistic missiles at the Kingdom? Had Iran apologized for the immense economic damage inflicted on the Gulf?
The answer, of course, is no. Iran has offered no apology, no compensation, no acknowledgment of wrongdoing. And yet Saudi Arabia sends its dignitaries to Tehran to sign condolence books and express “sympathy and respect”. This is not diplomacy. This is capitulation. This is what Hassan calls “the kingdom of fear, submission, and hypocrisy.”
For those who support Israel, Khaled Hassan’s critique is essential viewing, not because Hassan is pro-Israel, but because his righteous anger at Saudi Arabia’s cowardice reveals the foundational hypocrisy of the region’s anti-Israel posture. It was never really about justice. It was never about Palestine. It was about Arab regimes using Israel as a convenient scapegoat to distract from their own failures, their own fear, and their own submission to Iranian aggression.
Consider the logic: Saudi Arabia, which cannot bring itself to confront Iran even after being directly attacked, which trembles at the prospect of Iranian drones and missiles, which sends condolence delegations to the regime that threatened to kill thousands of its citizens, this same Saudi Arabia lectures Israel about morality? This same Saudi Arabia preaches about Palestinian rights while groveling before the regime that arms Hamas and Hezbollah? The hypocrisy is clear. And Hassan, in his fury, has exposed it for all to see.
The truth that Hassan’s video inadvertently illuminates is this, Israel has been the only country in the region with the courage, the capability, and the moral clarity to confront the Iranian threat. While Saudi Arabia cowers, Israel acts. While Riyadh sends condolence delegations to Tehran, Jerusalem stands firm against the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Israel does not send delegations to mourn the deaths of its enemies. Israel does not grovel before regimes that have sworn to destroy it. Israel does not call its adversaries “Hitler” one day and offer them condolences the next. Israel has a coherent strategic vision, a capable military, and the moral conviction to defend itself and, by extension, the broader region against Iranian expansionism.
As one analysis of Saudi Arabia’s approach noted, “Riyadh’s muted response to Iranian aggression reveals a leadership driven more by fear and domestic troubles than coherent regional strategy”. Saudi-Israeli normalization once seemed all but inevitable, “until Tehran unleashed a barrage of missiles on Saudi energy sites. Riyadh’s response? It cowered in silence and begged Iran for mercy”.
Khaled Hassan’s video should serve as a wake-up call, not just for Saudi Arabia, but for the entire Arab world. The old model of blaming Israel for everything while submitting to Iran has failed. It has produced nothing but humiliation, fear, and strategic paralysis.
The future of the Middle East lies not in submission to Tehran, but in alliance with Jerusalem. The Abraham Accords demonstrated that when Arab states choose partnership with Israel over appeasement of Iran, everyone benefits. The UAE understood this. Bahrain understood this. Morocco understood this. Saudi Arabia, tragically, has yet to learn the lesson. As Hassan concludes his video, he expresses hope that someone from Saudi Arabia will have the courage to engage in honest dialogue, to explain their policies, to defend their choices. But courage, as he has demonstrated, is precisely what the Saudi leadership lacks. They have the courage to attack Yemen, but not to confront Iran. They have the courage to criticize Israel, but not to stand up to Tehran. They have the courage to call Khamenei “Hitler” in English, but not to treat him as such in practice.
Khaled Hassan set out to shame Saudi Arabia into self-awareness. He largely succeeded on his own terms. But his video delivers a second lesson, one he may not have intended. It reveals that the Arab world’s hostility toward Israel has never been about principle. It has been about fear. Fear of Iran. Fear of their own populations. Fear of standing for anything except the comfortable, cowardly status quo. For Israel, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to continue confronting the Iranian threat with strength and resolve. The opportunity is to show the Arab world, through the example of the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, that there is a better way. A way that does not involve submission, hypocrisy, or fear. A way that involves dignity, partnership, and shared prosperity. The “kingdom of fear” that Hassan describes does not have to be the future of the Middle East. But that future will only change when Arab leaders find the courage that Hassan has displayed, the courage to speak truth, to confront reality, and to choose partnership with Israel over submission to Iran.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlFToGnY3Yc
Jalal Tagreeb is an East Jordanian freelance researcher and translator who works in the United Kingdom and abroad, specializing in Islamic Studies and History. Formerly rooted in conservative Sunni Islam, he was once an active Muslim apologist who frequently debated secularists. Following a series of decisive intellectual defeats, he undertook a profound re-evaluation of his beliefs, ultimately culminating in his public renunciation of Islam.
He now focuses on analyzing cultural and ideological contrasts between the West and the Middle East. Through his writings and translations, he aims to foster meaningful dialogue, encourage critical engagement with Islamic tradition, and promote intellectual honesty. His writings, debates, and a selection of his previously refuted Islamic arguments can be found here: Jalal Tagreeb, Author at The Freethinker.
He can be contacted at servantjiff@gmail.com.
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