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Optimism Prevails as Countdown Begins for End of Saudi Women Driving Ban

The driving ban against Saudi women ends at midnight on Saturday. (Reuters)
The driving ban against Saudi women ends at midnight on Saturday. (Reuters)
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Optimism Prevails as Countdown Begins for End of Saudi Women Driving Ban

The driving ban against Saudi women ends at midnight on Saturday. (Reuters)
The driving ban against Saudi women ends at midnight on Saturday. (Reuters)

Nine month after Custodian of the Holy Mosques King Salman’s royal decree to allow females in Saudi Arabia to drive, women were highly anticipating the possibility to exercise their right to get behind the wheel as soon as the ban ends at midnight on Saturday.

The past months have witnessed a race against time throughout the Kingdom to prepare driving schools, train female car accident inspectors and raise awareness through various campaigns.

On social media, official authorities, including the General Prosecution, warned against abusing the end of the ban by illicitly taking photographs of the drivers and infringing on their privacy. Punishments against violators include fines and jail terms.

Aside from these concerns, Saudis from all walks of life launched a social media campaign welcoming women to the driving field.

General Director of the Traffic Directorate Mohammed al-Bassami told Asharq Al-Awsat that traffic police were prepared to implement the new driving law, hailing the positive spirit towards women and the end of the ban.

“One only needs to take a quick glance at social media to realize the degree of growing awareness in society in regards to preserving order and paving the way for women to drive for the first time in their lives without any hindrances,” he remarked.

He revealed that the first batch of female car accident inspectors, a total of 40, graduated from the private insurance company Najm only two days ago. Others will follow.

“We are optimistic and as everyone knows, the rules that apply to men will apply to women when it comes to traffic violations and others, as stipulated in the royal decree,” Bassami stressed.

The exact number of women who have obtained their driving license has not been disclosed. The figure is changing on a daily basis, said Bassami.

“Thousands of licenses have been issued and thousands of international licenses have been replaced with local ones,” he explained.

Women were taught how to drive at schools that adhere to the highest international standards. “We are confident that the new drivers would have earned their license and are ready to get behind the wheel,” he added.

“Women make up half of Saudi society and they play a pioneering role in all fields … so ultimately their entry to the driving field will have a positive impact on the Kingdom,” stressed Bassami.

Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with a number of Saudi women ahead of the end of the driving ban, all of whom expressed their excitement at the prospect of being able to freely drive themselves around the Kingdom.

Head of the Businesswomen Center at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hind Al-Zahid told Asharq Al-Awsat that end of the driving ban paves the way for a historic and pivotal stage in Saudi history.

She interpreted the end of the ban as a decision that backs women as serious partners in economic development.

“I am very happy and optimistic over the economic impact that will emerge from this decision,” she stated. The most important result is the freedom of mobility, which will allow women to drive themselves to work and therefore open up new job opportunities for them.

Asked if she will begin driving on Sunday, Zahid replied: “Yes, I will happily drive myself to work. As a mother, I will be able to drive my children to school and perform other tasks with great ease without having to rely on others.”

Renowned Saudi jewelry designer and businesswoman Dana al-Alami described the end of the driving ban as “historic”.

She revealed that she will begin driving in the Kingdom as soon as she returns from a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

“Congratulations to us all. Education for women was introduced during the reign of King Faisal. They were allowed to join the Shura Council under the reign of King Abdullah and now, under King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the empowerment of women continues,” she said.

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As It Attacks Iran's Nuclear Program, Israel Maintains Ambiguity about Its Own

FILE - This file image made from a video aired Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, by Israeli television station Channel 10, shows what the television station claims is Israel's nuclear facility in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, the first detailed video of the site ever shown to the public. (Channel 10 via AP, File)
FILE - This file image made from a video aired Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, by Israeli television station Channel 10, shows what the television station claims is Israel's nuclear facility in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, the first detailed video of the site ever shown to the public. (Channel 10 via AP, File)
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As It Attacks Iran's Nuclear Program, Israel Maintains Ambiguity about Its Own

FILE - This file image made from a video aired Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, by Israeli television station Channel 10, shows what the television station claims is Israel's nuclear facility in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, the first detailed video of the site ever shown to the public. (Channel 10 via AP, File)
FILE - This file image made from a video aired Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, by Israeli television station Channel 10, shows what the television station claims is Israel's nuclear facility in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, the first detailed video of the site ever shown to the public. (Channel 10 via AP, File)

Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran’s nuclear program because its archenemy's furtive efforts to build an atomic weapon are a threat to its existence.

What’s not-so-secret is that for decades Israel has been believed to be the Middle East’s only nation with nuclear weapons, even though its leaders have refused to confirm or deny their existence, The Associated Press said.

Israel's ambiguity has enabled it to bolster its deterrence against Iran and other enemies, experts say, without triggering a regional nuclear arms race or inviting preemptive attacks.

Israel is one of just five countries that aren’t party to a global nuclear nonproliferation treaty. That relieves it of international pressure to disarm, or even to allow inspectors to scrutinize its facilities.

Critics in Iran and elsewhere have accused Western countries of hypocrisy for keeping strict tabs on Iran's nuclear program — which its leaders insist is only for peaceful purposes — while effectively giving Israel's suspected arsenal a free pass.

On Sunday, the US military struck three nuclear sites in Iran, inserting itself into Israel’s effort to destroy Iran’s program.

Here's a closer look at Israel's nuclear program:

A history of nuclear ambiguity Israel opened its Negev Nuclear Research Center in the remote desert city of Dimona in 1958, under the country's first leader, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion. He believed the tiny fledgling country surrounded by hostile neighbors needed nuclear deterrence as an extra measure of security. Some historians say they were meant to be used only in case of emergency, as a last resort.

After it opened, Israel kept the work at Dimona hidden for a decade, telling United States’ officials it was a textile factory, according to a 2022 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an academic journal.

Relying on plutonium produced at Dimona, Israel has had the ability to fire nuclear warheads since the early 1970s, according to that article, co-authored by Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists, and Matt Korda, a researcher at the same organization.

Israel's policy of ambiguity suffered a major setback in 1986, when Dimona’s activities were exposed by a former technician at the site, Mordechai Vanunu. He provided photographs and descriptions of the reactor to The Sunday Times of London.

Vanunu served 18 years in prison for treason, and is not allowed to meet with foreigners or leave the country.

ISRAEL POSSESSES DOZENS OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS, EXPERTS SAY

Experts estimate Israel has between 80 and 200 nuclear warheads, although they say the lower end of that range is more likely.

Israel also has stockpiled as much as 1,110 kilograms (2,425 pounds) of plutonium, potentially enough to make 277 nuclear weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a global security organization. It has six submarines believed to be capable of launching nuclear cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles believed to be capable of launching a nuclear warhead up to 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles), the organization says.

Germany has supplied all of the submarines to Israel, which are docked in the northern city of Haifa, according to the article by Kristensen and Korda.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST POSE RISKS

In the Middle East, where conflicts abound, governments are often unstable, and regional alliances are often shifting, nuclear proliferation is particularly dangerous, said Or Rabinowitz, a scholar at Jerusalem's Hebrew University and a visiting associate professor at Stanford University.

“When nuclear armed states are at war, the world always takes notice because we don’t like it when nuclear arsenals ... are available for decision makers,” she said.

Rabinowitz says Israel's military leaders could consider deploying a nuclear weapon if they found themselves facing an extreme threat, such as a weapon of mass destruction being used against them.

Three countries other than Israel have refused to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: India, Pakistan and South Sudan. North Korea has withdrawn. Iran has signed the treaty, but it was censured last week, shortly before Israel launched its operation, by the UN's nuclear watchdog — a day before Israel attacked — for violating its obligations.

Israel's policy of ambiguity has helped it evade greater scrutiny, said Susie Snyder at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a group that works to promote adherence to the UN treaty.

Its policy has also shined a light on the failure of Western countries to rein in nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, she said.

They “prefer not to be reminded of their own complicity,” she said.