Saudi Arabian school textbooks are teaching hatred of Jews, Christians and gay men - despite the kingdom boasting it is 'modernising', a report has claimed.

The country's curriculum also contains a passage saying that beating women is 'permitted when necessary', according to the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

It comes despite Saudi Arabia's pledge to modernise under Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, with radical changes including lifting a ban on women driving and allowing them to watch sport in national stadiums.

Saudi Arabian school textbooks are teaching hatred of Jews, Christians and gay men - despite the kingdom boasting it is 'modernising', a report has claimed. It comes despite Saudi Arabia's pledge to modernise under Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (pictured), with radical changes including lifting a ban on women driving

The ADL says it has reviewed Saudi government-published textbooks for the academic year 2018-2019.

Researchers at the Jewish non-governmental organisation, say they found that they 'promote incitement to hatred or violence against Jews, Christians, women, and homosexual men'.

The school textbooks it has analysed have a 'significant international footprint' and have been used in countries in Africa, Europe, and other parts of Asia, they said.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said: 'The United States must hold its ally Saudi Arabia to a higher standard.

'The US cannot look the other way while Saudi Arabia features anti-Semitic hate speech year after year in the educational material it gives to its children.'

The findings were published in a report called 'Teaching Hate and Violence: Problematic Passages from Saudi State Textbooks for the 2018–19 School Year'.

David Andrew Weinberg, ADL's Washington Director for International Affairs and the author of the report, added: 'Saudi Arabia has made some undeniably significant social and religious reforms in recent years, but such steps have yet to address the hate-filled invective against Jews, Christians and others that is being taught to the next generation of Saudis.'