Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdullatif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh praised Israel on August 23 for allowing Muslims to go on their Hajj pilgrimage, stating that it makes the Jewish state better than other Muslim countries.

In a Saudi television clip, Al-Sheikh says, “What has surprised us is that the state of Israel has, from what we know of it, has not banned Muslim pilgrims from coming to the [Saudi] Kingdom to take part in their religious obligation, however, one of the countries, as we know or have been told, has banned pilgrims from visiting the House of Allah.”

“This is a catastrophic fail for anyone who has done this, for no one can be banned from Hajj and no one can be banned for worshipping Allah,” Al-Sheikh continued.

Israel has facilitated #Hajj pilgrimage for 4,000 of its Muslim citizens in honor of #EidAlAdha. The Saudi minister of Islamic affairs, Abdullatif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, praised Israel for, unlike other Muslim states, not preventing Muslim believers from performing their Hajj pic.twitter.com/62hhVn1Lbd — Elad Ratson (@EladRatson) August 23, 2018

In July 2017, Israel sought to establish direct flights for Israeli Muslims to take from Israel to Saudi Arabia in order to help them with their Hajj pilgrimage, as otherwise they would have had to take a bus for 1,000 miles to make the pilgrimage.

Iran, an enemy of both Saudi Arabia and Israel, is one Muslim country that bans its Muslim citizens of making Hajj. Qatar has reportedly banned Muslims from making Hajj recently, however Qatar disputes that report, claiming that Saudi Arabia is preventing Qataris from the making the pilgrimage. The Saudis responded by accusing Qatar of politicizing the Hajj.

The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, a religious obligation for Muslims to make at least once in their lives.