Although the Jewish State and the Gulf Kingdom have no diplomatic ties, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have been able to perform the hajj, considered compulsory in Islam, using temporary Jordanian passports.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik that Riyadh has eliminated this loophole despite reports about a rapprochement and military cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has changed its passport rules, and will now block Muslim residents of Israel from making the pilgrimage to Mecca, according to Haaretz. The believers can be barred from undertaking the Hajj, as well as the Umrah, a less important pilgrimage, as Riyadh no longer recognizes temporary Jordanian passports.

Muslim Israeli passport holders had been able to use the Jordanian documents to enter the Kingdom, which is home to Islam’s two most sacred cities, Mecca and Medina. While there are no diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tel-Aviv, Muslim Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship could perform the pilgrimage, going first to Jordan to obtain temporary passports and then entering Saudi Arabia.

In September, the outlet also reported that Saudi Arabia had purchased Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense systems to fend off Houthi missile attacks.

Millions of Muslims make the trip to Mecca each year. According to Islamic scripture, every healthy Muslim with the financial means to do so should make a pilgrimage there at least once in their lifetime. The festival honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) in an act of obedience to God.