Sportswashing or Progress? How the U.S. and Israel Can—and Must—Leverage Saudi Involvement in Professional Golf

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman bumps fists with U.S. President Joe Biden in Jeddah on July 15, 2022. Photo by Saudi Press Agency.

Since October 2021, conversations surrounding professional golf have shifted away from drives, chips, and putts to a moral conundrum at the intersection of sports, politics, and human rights. 

The controversy began when Saudi Arabia announced a new professional golf league set to rival the longstanding PGA Tour: LIV Golf. The league would be funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). In June 2023, the sports world was stunned when the PGA and LIV merged into a joint entity to be funded primarily by the PIF. Although questions have arisen surrounding the injection of Saudi money into American professional golf, the deal represents legitimate Saudi progress and a unique opportunity for the United States to accelerate the highly sought-after Israel-Saudi peace process while reestablishing U.S. influence in the region. 

Before launching into the complex Saudi-American-Israeli dynamic, we must first address the moral dilemmas that arise from the Saudi venture into professional golf. Does embracing Saudi golf mean turning a blind eye to the Saudis’ role in the 9/11 attacks, their poor treatment of women, and the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi? Is the golf world supporting Saudi sportswashing?

Sportswashing is defined as a phenomenon in which sports are used by a government to distract the public from questionable humanitarian or political practices. Recent accusations of sportswashing include China hosting the 2022 Olympics amid systemic abuse of the Uyghur Muslim population, and Qatar using the 2022 World Cup to mask abusive labor practices and human rights violations. 

Saudi Arabia’s investment in professional golf has generated similar accusations of sportswashing. When asked, most of the players who joined LIV deflected questions about the morality of their move. In one particularly heated press conference, golfers Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood refused to answer questions about whether there is anywhere they wouldn’t play for the right price. Six-time major championship winner Phil Mickelson, one of the earliest and most passionate backers of LIV, came under fire after he acknowledged the Saudis’ problematic record and still defended his move: “We know they killed [Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.” 

So, knowing what we know about Saudi Arabia’s record, why should the U.S. consider allowing this? If we look ahead to the future, beyond golf, the Saudi-PGA cooperation plays an important role as part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s (MBS) reshaping of socioeconomic affairs in Saudi Arabia, known as Vision 2030. 

Vision 2030 encompasses a number of initiatives set to materialize by 2030, which, according to the Saudi government, promote Saudi Arabia’s “economic, social, and cultural diversification.” Chief among the initiatives are investments in renewable energy, infrastructure to increase tourism, and loosening gender-based discrimination. These are positive changes, and the idea that the PIF-PGA merger could be an avenue of this reformation is reason enough to consider its potential positive impacts despite Saudi Arabia’s problematic past. 

Taking advantage of this Saudi progress by leveraging international golf cooperation begins with the U.S. Once the clear Middle East power broker, the U.S. is now rapidly losing influence in the region to an increasingly assertive China. Earlier this year, China brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to reestablish diplomatic relations after seven years of severed ties. Beyond the significance of rival oil-rich nations reopening lines of communication, the deal represents a major step in China’s attempts to increase global power and influence. 

The Chinese-led reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Saudi and Iran is a blow to American interests in the Middle East but is indicative of a new, Saudi-dominant Middle Eastern order. The United States must keep up. Currently, the PIF-PGA deal is under review by both the Senate and the Justice Departments. The inquiries are focused on potential antitrust issues with the deal as well as concerns over Saudi involvement. Opponents have ripped the deal as allowing a “repressive” Saudi regime to buy power and influence. Those more open to the deal point out that Saudi Arabia investing in American sports both helps their progress and benefits the U.S. economically. As such, the U.S. government should take a back seat and let the PIF-PGA deal continue both in support of Saudi cultural reforms and to ensure that America does not miss out on this unique moment of change in the Middle East. As China has taken steps to increase influence diplomatically, let golf be a medium through which the U.S. can increase its presence culturally until the next diplomatic opportunity.  

This is where Israel becomes a part of the conversation. It is well-known that Israel and the U.S. have maintained close ties since the U.S. became the first country to recognize Israel’s independence in 1948 and continues to provide billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid. The U.S. has also been the leading intermediary in numerous Israeli peace negotiations. For Israel today, Saudi Arabia remains at the top of the peace treaty wish list, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicating recently that such a deal would be a “quantum leap” forward for Israel, an opportunity to “advance the peace in our region.” With Iran constantly threatening to inflict violence on Israel through proxies in Lebanon and Syria, the sense of urgency from the Israeli side to accelerate a peace deal with Iran’s longtime rival makes sense from a security standpoint. And the potential economic benefits of doing business with a wealthy, growth-oriented nation are endless. 

Foundations for formalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia are well-known, with the two countries maintaining unofficial ties for several years now. Bahrain’s involvement in the Abraham Accords is important to note as well. Given the massive amount of Saudi influence in the small Gulf country, the very fact of Bahrain’s normalization with Israel can be viewed as a proxy for Israel-Saudi relations as well. 

So how will this process move forward? Israel has made it clear that a deal with the Saudis is a top priority. For Saudi Arabia, such a deal makes sense given Israel’s technological infrastructure and global economic reach. On the American end, each time the Biden Administration has made efforts toward gauging what it would take to formalize Israel-Saudi relations, MBS has made his demands clear to U.S. officials. As part of a pact with Israel, Saudi Arabia wants weapons, a security agreement, and help developing the kingdom’s civilian nuclear program. The problem is that the U.S. has yet to budge on any of these conditions due to its historically strained relationship with the Saudis. 

The U.S. can no longer afford to be stingy if it wants to maintain a semblance of geopolitical importance in the Middle East. While President Biden has yet to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, Netanyahu has already accepted an invite to visit Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this year. And if we look back at the MBS’s list of demands, China is well-positioned to provide any and all of the services requested. 

From an Israeli standpoint, an agreement led by either of the two global superpowers is better than no agreement at all. However, given the long-standing relationship between Israel and the U.S, a win-win outcome for the two countries would be U.S. involvement in any Israeli deal with the Saudis. Israel likely prefers that the Americans rather than the Chinese oversee Saudi plans to build nuclear plants and expand their arsenal. And the U.S. cannot afford further damage to its reputation in the region. 

The geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East are at a critical turning point, and the U.S. faces important decisions ahead as it considers how interventionist it wants to be going forward. Saudi Arabia has made a series of investments in infrastructure and reforms—and golf mergers—that push for meaningful internal change and global cooperation. In the PIF-PGA merger, the Saudis have chosen a particularly American investment that could act as a stepping stone on which to build better relations between the two countries. The U.S. should embrace this moment and, together with its strong ally in Israel, leverage the Saudis’ global aspirations into a mutually beneficial deal that supports Saudi reforms, reaffirms the U.S. position as a power broker in the Middle East, and strengthens Israel’s position in the region through peace and diplomacy. 

Elisha Baker is a staff writer for CPR and a sophomore at Columbia College studying American and Middle Eastern history. You can often find him golfing on his favorite course in the world, Caesarea Golf Club in Israel.