Changes in Saudi Educational Curriculum

Anti-Israel passages are disappearing from Saudi school curricula

and Israeli experts are welcoming these changes made to the books.

According to a report by the Israeli organization Impact C,

the Saudi curriculum for the 2025

and 2026 academic years has undergone sweeping changes. The most

notable change is that this sentence was deleted:

Muslims will never relinquish Jerusalem.

The sentence removed from the eleventh-grade Arabic language textbook

received special attention in Israel. The newspaper

Maariv says its removal could have political implications

and could perhaps pave the way for broader normalization between this wealthy kingdom and

Israel.

But the change is not limited to Jerusalem.

In the previous curriculum, Israel was called the Zionist enemy.

The new curriculum instead calls it “occupying Israel”

The term has been used. According to the report, in schools

changes have also been noted in some maps, including the removal

of Palestine's name from areas dating back to 1948. These areas

have been left unnamed.

At the same time, negative material about Jews, Christians, and

certain Muslim sects has been reduced.

According to the organization Impact C, these changes are part of Saudi

Arabia's educational reforms under Vision 2030.

Their aim is to promote tolerance, coexistence, and

critical thinking. But according to the report,

Israel is still portrayed as an occupying state

and remains absent from the maps in the curriculum.

This report analyzed more than 136 school textbooks from 2025 and 2026.

چھتیس سے زائد اسکول کی کتابوں پر مشتمل تھا۔

So are these independent educational reforms, or a new

restructuring that is paving the way for closer political

ties?