History of the Jews in Saudi Arabia
[7][8] A historical journey to visit far-flung Jewish communities was undertaken by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela from 1165 to 1173 that crossed and tracked some of the areas that are located in present-day Saudi Arabia.
[13] He took the "long road" stopping frequently, meeting people, visiting places, describing occupations and giving a demographic count of Jews in every town and country.
One of the known towns that Benjamin of Tudela reported as having a Jewish community was "El Katif"[14] located in the area of the modern-day city of Hofuf in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Al-Hofuf also Hofuf or Al-Hufuf (Arabic: الهفوف) is the major urban center in the huge al-Ahsa Oasis in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
The local governor at the time, Amir Turki ben Mahdi, allowed the 600 Najrani Jews[16] a single day on which to either evacuate or never leave again.
After settling in the Hashid Camp (also called Mahane Geula) they were airlifted to Israel as part of the larger Operation Magic Carpet.
Their leader approached the Emir of Najran at the time and requested permission to leave with his family for Saada in Yemen, where their relatives and cousins resided.
He emphasized that neither he nor any of the Jewish residents had been harmed or harassed but explained their decision to leave to avoid embarrassing the country they had lived in for hundreds of years, as they were deeply shaken by Israel's actions against the Palestinians at the time.
The local ruler at the time, Emir Turki bin Madi, granted them the choice between complete evacuation or permanent stay.
A source within the ministry said, in effect, that Israelis were not allowed to enter Saudi Arabia, but Jews of other nationalities would not have the entry ban applied to them.
[28][29] According to some Jewish expatriates living in the Kingdom, there are around 3,000 Jews who currently reside in Saudi Arabia, mostly from the US, Canada, France, and South Africa.
[32] After the Abraham Accords, Saudi Arabia outlawed the disparagement of Jews and Christians in mosques, and also removed anti-semitic passages from school textbooks.
