Photo of ‘Saudi’ car in Israel raises storm

JEDDAH: A Mercedes car with a Saudi number plate was spotted in Israel. The discovery led to intense discussion on social media websites on Tuesday.
According to reports, the car was spotted last week in Jaffa’s Clock Tower Square by Jacky Hugi, the Middle East editor for Israel’s Army Radio, who posted the picture on Twitter.
Makkah newspaper reported that the car belonged to an American national. The newspaper identified him as Phillip Allen, “who works in the construction sector.”
The newspaper claimed that it called Allen and he seemed unaware of the controversy.
“I don’t have Twitter and I have not seen the photo of my car,” he was quoted as saying in the newspaper.
He admitted that he was on holidays in Israel and that his papers were checked four times by the Israeli police during his trip because of the (Saudi) registration number.
Later on Tuesday, Sabq.org said the car owner was British and identified him as Phillip Christopher. He works as a manager at an elevator company in Riyadh, said the online publication.
Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. In May, Saudi Arabian Airlines canceled a contract with a Portuguese company for taking an off-duty airliner with Saudi Arabian Airlines branding for maintenance at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.