Israel 'asks Saudi king to not harm' pro-Zionist blogger who was heckled in Jerusalem

Israeli authorities have reportedly asked the Saudi royal court to not harm a pro-Zionist Saudi blogger who visited Jerusalem as a guest of the Jewish state last week.

Jacky Hugi, the Arab affairs analyst for Israeli army radio, revealed the direct communications between Tel Aviv and the Saudi King in an article published on Friday.

The veteran journalist said Israeli authorities requested that Riyadh "not hurt the young blogger", who Palestinians spat, cursed and threw chairs at during his visit to occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Mohammed Saud along with five other invitees from Arab states brought to Israel by its foreign ministry "to give them fresh viewpoints on the country".

"To harass the young guy would have political significance. Image if he returns and he is taken in for questioning or expelled from university… it would be a statement against Israel and normalisation," Hugi said.

The journalist, who met the Israel-obsessed law student during the visit, added that Saud was "very naive" to not expect the backlash against his visit by Palestinians.

Saud was photographed meeting with far-right Israeli politicians including Yehuda Glick, who is part of a movement advocating the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque - the third-holiest site in Islam.

Israeli officials have condemned the harassment of the "tourist" and three Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem had been arrested over the "attack".

The visit comes as Israel seeks to improve ties with Gulf Arab countries, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

Those states have held off offering Israel formal recognition due to its continuing occupation of Palestinian territory, but relations have warmed of late, largely due to common concerns over Iran.

Hugi revealed that two other Saudis were invited to take part in the trip but were not granted permission by authorities.

Saud's Twitter feed is littered with pro-Israel, pro-Netanyahu posts and his bio features "#OnlyBibi", a reference to the Israeli prime minister, in Hebrew.

In a recent interview with Israeli army radio the Saudi blogger said: "Israeli people are similar to mine, they are like my family".