The story: Japan will on July 30 be host to a rare instance of sports normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials have consented to female judoka Tahani Al-Qahtani’s match against Raz Hershko of Israel at the Tokyo Olympics. The move is a split from a long-held Saudi practice of boycotting matches against Israeli opponents. However, Riyadh remains reluctant to join its closest Gulf Arab partners in fully normalizing relations with Israel.

The coverage: Prior to the Saudi green light for Qahtani’s upcoming judo match, the Jeddah-based Okaz daily published an interview...