Rabbi Yaakov Herzog, the self-appointed “chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia,” announced that he was denied entry to the Kingdom, despite holding a valid visa and having spent years traveling in and out of the country.

“With profound regret, I announce that I was barred from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upon arrival,” Herzog wrote on X, saying the decision left him cut off from what he described as the Jewish community he serves there.

Saudi Arabia has no official Jewish community and does not recognize any rabbinic authority. Nonetheless, Herzog — a New York native who holds both U.S. and Israeli citizenship and lives in Jerusalem — has in recent years promoted himself as a representative for Jewish visitors and residents in the Kingdom, marketing kosher food, offering mohel services, and presenting himself as an emissary of Jewish life in Saudi Arabia.

That public posture has long drawn quiet discomfort among Jews familiar with the region, where discretion has historically been essential. Saudi law forbids the public practice of any religion other than Islam, and Jews who travel to the Kingdom have typically done so without public identification or communal structures.

Herzog said he was given no explanation for being turned away and said he believes the decision did not come directly from the Saudi royal leadership. Instead, he suggested unnamed “dark forces” were working to undermine reform and tolerance in the Kingdom.

Saudi authorities have not commented.

The incident comes at a sensitive moment. Hopes for Saudi-Israeli normalization have cooled amid ongoing regional tensions and a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. While U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed Riyadh toward normalization, Saudi officials have made clear that Palestinian statehood remains a precondition.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia continues to bar Israeli passport holders, and Herzog’s prior ability to enter the country appears to have relied on his American citizenship, a leniency that may no longer apply.

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