Back in 1973, prompted by the Yom Kippur war, the Arab boycott of Israel really took off. One of the most notable effects were those Japanese car companies, who with the exception of Subaru, refused to do business with the Holy Land.

And today in 2017? BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota et al either have r&d centres in Israel and / or have incorporated Israeli tech into their engines. In other words, the boycott is rapidly becoming irrelevant, as Israeli services and products penetrate the heartlands of the members of the Arab League.

Let us consider Saudi Arabia, the largest country and the richest and arguably the most conservative in that political block. It is common knowledge in Israel that for years the kingdom has accepted Israeli goods. (Quite often they have been repackaged in places like Cyprus.) Secret meetings between the two countries stretch back at least a decade, if not more. Back in February 2017, Bloomberg detailed how Israeli high-tech companies were cooperating with Saudis.

As is to give this a rubber stamp, the London newspaper, the Sunday Times published an article, which claims that these ties are about to become more official. At a first level, El Al could fly their planes over Saudi airspace.

Maybe, but I urge caution. I was more struck by an item in Hebrew by Doron Peskin. He noted that Saudi Arabia really does not consider Israel as a source for widening its economic growth, as the Kingdom looks for new and alternative streams of revenues. In other words, the breakthrough – if and when it is to come – would be more of the political and strategic nature, as opposed to a commercial upheaval.

Certainly, there have been rumours of the Saudis purchasing Israel’s “Iron Dome” system against missiles. And if that is not ironic enough, all these stories come during a period when Saudi Arabia is leading the boycott against Qatar and when Israel is planning to sell some of its gas reserves to Jordan.

Yes, times are a changing in the Middle East. And even the slow moving desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia is signaling that it is prepared to consider playing a role in the revolution.