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After Suez. In his opposition to Israel, Saud yields to no one. In one of his first published remarks on becoming King he asked his fellow Arabs, "Why don't we sacrifice 10 million of our number" to uproot Israel, which "to the Arab world is like a cancer to the human body." He has vowed Israel's destruction with a venom encouraged by Crown Prince Feisal, who took it as a personal insult when, as Saudi Arabia's U.N. delegate in 1947, he was outvoted in the Assembly. When Britain joined the Baghdad Pact, Saud promptly joined Nasser's bloc in opposition to the Western "imperialists," gave Syria a $10 million loan as an inducement to join too. The Saudi information director began regular swings through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan delivering funds to pro-Nasser newspapers and favored editors and reporters. During the riots in Jordan preliminary to the ejection of Glubb Pasha, Jordan editors received £100 notes pinned to articles attacking Glubb.
Then came Nasser's seizure of the Suez Canal. Reportedly, Saud got the news in the midst of a state banquet. He rose abruptly and retired to his private chambers—thereby forcing everyone else to leave the table too.
U.S. observers are convinced that Nasser's Suez adventure marked a turning point. There were already signs that Saud had become wary of Nasser. Last spring there were reports of a brief mutiny in the Saudi army instigated by Egyptian-trained officers. Last June 4,000 workers struck at Aramco just before Saud paid a formal visit, greeted him shouting of "oppression" by foreign imperialists. Saud's police beat several demonstrators to death with palm stems. Then, when Nasser flew to Dhahran for a conference, Saud was annoyed to find that the cheers for Nasser were far louder than for himself.
Publicly, Saud loyally backed up Nasser's Suez seizure ("I am with Egypt with all I possess," Saud cabled), helped him out by giving him $25 million in dollars in exchange for Egyptian pounds. But privately, Saud told Nasser of his annoyance that he had seized the canal without letting his allies know. The Saud money which used to be so lavishly spent on promoting Nasser's schemes throughout the Middle East suddenly was cut off. When Nasser called for a general Arab strike to protest the Suez conference in London, only Saud declined to participate. Some Egyptians demonstrated anyway in Jiddah. Police broke up the demonstration and deported the leaders.
In the weeks between the seizure and the Israeli invasion Saud kept a top aide shuttling to Cairo to urge Nasser toward moderation, and sent private word to Eisenhower that he had counsel to give. Former Secretary of the Navy Robert Anderson was dispatched on a hush-hush trip to Riyadh. Baud's counsel: Western intransigence was forcing Nasser into the arms of the Communists. Simultaneously. Saud began a gingerly effort to organize a loose association of Arab leaders which, while not opposing Nasser, still called for restraint. Saud found common cause for unity even with his old Hashemite enemy, King Feisal of Iraq, in their shared irritation at Nasser's expansive talk of "Arab oil" when, in fact, it was Iraq and Saudi oil.