Pro-Israel Saudi journalist accused of espionage, asks for protection

The journalist's citizenship was withdrawn in December with no reason given.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) 40th Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 10, 2019 (photo credit: BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI ROYAL COURT / REUTERS)
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) 40th Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 10, 2019
(photo credit: BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI ROYAL COURT / REUTERS)
Pro-Israel Saudi journalist Hamid Al-Ghabin claims that he has been stripped of his citizenship, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Ghabin warned in a tweet on Tuesday that his "life is in danger" after he was accused of espionage and smuggling large amounts of money out of the Kingdom, among other claims in a letter to the interior minister.
"I hope that soon I will be able to send a message to my master Mohammed bin Salman and His Excellency the Attorney General to provide protection for me," tweeted Ghabin. "My record is very clean in State Security and General Intelligence, and they know me completely, whether in Saudi Arabia or when I was in Kuwait or London. I do not need to answer to any security apparatus."
Ghabin has accused Saudi officials of "conspiring" against him. The journalist's citizenship was withdrawn in December with no reason given.
The Saudi journalist has vocally supported Israel in both Saudi and Israeli media.
In April of last year, Ghabin stated that, "Palestinians who do not accept to be a part of the State of Israel should be deported to Jordan" and that "It doesn't interest us what happens with Jerusalem as much as peace between the states interests us. We need to calm things down and make a true peace between the two sides."
Ghabin has repeatedly pushed the idea of Jordan being a Palestinian state, saying that "the world will eventually recognize Jordan as the place for Palestinian statehood" and that, when this happens, "we Arabs won’t feel guilty normalizing relations with Israel as another regional state."
In September, Ghabin wrote concerning a possible conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that "most of the Arab people will stand with Israel."
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.