Among the teams dashing around the dunes in their cars at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia this month, there were two whose presence would have been unthinkable a year ago.
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The participation of Israelis in the rally's lightweight vehicle and truck categories comes after a rapprochement between Israel and Arab states that has been in high gear, fuelled by Riyadh's quiet assent.
In total, 10 drivers, navigators and support staff entered Saudi Arabia on Israeli passports, according to team member Omer Pearl.
"It was extraordinary. Huge dunes that go on for hundreds of kilometers," said Danny Pearl, one of the Israeli drivers and Omer's father.
Founded in 1978, the Dakar Rally is an annual race open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically making up about eighty 80% of the participants. The Dakar is considered one of the most prestigious events on the annual racing circuit.
The rally is an off-road endurance event. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800 kilometers (500 miles) a day.
For decades, Saudi Arabia, Islam's birthplace and supporter of the Palestinian cause, shunned official contacts with Israel, with virulent anti-Jewish rhetoric the norm among clerics.
But Riyadh gave its assent to Israel's US-brokered formalization of relations last year with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, although it held off on establishing full ties itself. Israeli airliners have since been permitted to cross Saudi airspace, trimming flight times.
"I couldn't take my eyes of the track to enjoy the sights, but I kept thinking: This is our neighbor. Maybe one day, I'll be able just to drive in for a trip," Pearl senior said.
However, the rally website listed the teams as Belgian and American – a possible indicator of official reluctance to publicise an Israeli presence.
The Saudi government's media office and rally spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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