By Andrew L. Jaffee

Yesterday, USA TODAY’s headline article read, “Arabs try outreach to Israel, U.S. Jews - Saudis, others seek to counter extremists.” I hate to be cynical (realistic), but the article’s title contains a major oxymoron. The Saudis — the ruling family and their Wahabi clerics — are extremists. The article claims, “Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, are making some of their most public overtures ever to Israel and American Jews in an effort to undercut Iran’s growing influence, contain violence in Iraq and Lebanon and push for a Palestinian solution.” Could the threat of Iran be causing a regional political realignment? Iraq proves that the hatred between Sunnis and Shiites trumps all other issues of the day. Could Sunnis, whose “capital” is Saudi Arabia, and who hate Israel, choose to side with Israel because they hate/fear Shiites more, whom also hate Israel? Tehran, the Shiite “capital,” wants the bomb, but Israel already has the bomb. What strange bedfellows realpolitik makes for. I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, as Jew-hatred has been inculcated into generations of Sunnis, but this info is food for thought. Here’s what USA TODAY considers the good news:

Last month, Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s departing ambassador to the United States, attended a Washington reception sponsored by American Jewish organizations. The event honored a State Department diplomat appointed to combat anti-Semitism.

The appearance of a Saudi diplomat is “unprecedented,” said William Daroff, Washington office director for the United Jewish Communities, which organized the reception.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have stepped up contacts with Israel and pro-Israel Jewish groups in the USA. The outreach has the Bush administration’s blessing: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said six Gulf states and Egypt, Jordan and Israel are a new alignment of moderates to oppose extremists backed by Iran and Syria. She has said an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal would weaken militants such as Hamas and Hezbollah. …

Among the other recent Arab-Jewish contacts:

•Saudi national security adviser Bandar bin Sultan met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jordan in September, said Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s former ambassador to Washington. He said it was the highest-level Saudi-Israeli meeting he’d ever heard of.

•The United Arab Emirates has invited a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The conference, a 51-member umbrella group, is a strong supporter of Israel.

•Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres met the emir of Qatar in late January after taking part in a debate with Arab students there. It was the highest-level Israeli meeting with the Gulf nation since 1996, when Peres visited as prime minister.

USA TODAY seems too eager to enthusiastically welcome Saudi “overtures,” and doesn’t mention the kingdom’s dark side. How could all the years of sleeping with the devil be overcome? Here are a few items from the dark side, lest we forget (and how could we?):

• Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia and is a member of the royal family.
• Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudis.
• There are reports that the 9/11 hijackers received money from the Saudi royal family here in the U.S.
• Apparently, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Ambassador Bandar bin Sultan, helped members of Osama bin Laden’s family leave American soil right after 9/11.
• The Saudis funded both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
• The Saudis held a telethon to raise money for Palestinian homicide bombers. They routinely support the terrorist group Hamas.
• Saudi officials prevented FBI agents from interrogating suspects in the Khobar Towers bombing (on Saudi Arabian soil, which killed American citizens).
• Saudi princes have been linked to funding the horrific Bali bombing.
• Saudi Arabia has been criticized by the U.N. for its use of torture.
• Government-sanctioned Muslim clerics in the Saudi kingdom regularly preach in support of terrorism.
• A prominent Saudi cleric called Jews the “the scum of humanity.”