The New Arab-Israeli Alliance

To understand what is happening in the Middle East outside of Syria and Iran we need to recognize an important regional alignment, between Israel and its Sunni Arab neighbors. Since the media has mostly ignored this issue—this blog has not—it is worth examining the facts in detail.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the Arab shift toward Israel and away from Iran.

It begins with a rationale provided by the Quran:

Mohammad bin Abdul Karim al-Issa, the secretary-general of the Muslim World League, a Saudi-based global organization that has been accused of spreading extremism, recently pointed to a lesson in coexistence from Islam’s past. “The neighbor of the Prophet [Muhammad] was a Jew, and when that Jew was ill, the Prophet visited him and gave him kind words,” said Mr. al-Issa, who is also a former Saudi minister of justice. “The hard-liners don’t wish to know that.”

In this shift the Saudis are leading the way:

This new tone toward Jews—and, to a lesser degree, Israel—is becoming particularly prominent in the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia. For these wealthy Sunni monarchies, it is Shiite and Persian Iran that poses the most pressing current threat to their interests. They view the Jewish state—a foe of the regime in Tehran and its regional proxies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia—as their de facto ally.

The Obama administration’s “empower Iran” policy set the groundwork for the new alliance. The election of Donald Trump, the candidate preferred by both the Israelis and the Saudis contributed:

This unlikely partnership has gathered steam with the rise of Saudi Arabia’s new deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the architect of the Yemen war, who wants a more vigorous response to Iran. And it has received new momentum since the election of Donald Trump, the preferred candidate of Israel and the Gulf states. The White House said Thursday that Mr. Trump’s first foreign trip as president will feature stops in both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Important Saudi leaders are saying so explicitly. And one notes that when Hamas recently revised its charter to remove much of the flagrant anti-Semitism, the hand of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates was evident:

“We have the same enemy, the same threat,” Saudi Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, now the kingdom’s deputy intelligence chief, said in February. “And we are both close allies of the Americans.”

Pressure from the Gulf—particularly from Hamas’s longtime backer Qatar—played a key role in the Palestinian group’s decision Monday to remove slurs against Jews from its revised charter. Israel scoffed at the changes, noting that Hamas retained its goal of “liberating” all of historic Palestine—which would mean eradicating the Jewish state.

Israelis have noted the positive changes:

Still, some Israeli officials have praised the Gulf monarchies’ shift on Hamas. “Most of [Hamas’s] support came from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in the past,” said Ayoob Kara, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the only Arab minister in Israel’s cabinet. “Now the Saudi Arabian coalition understands more and more that Hamas is an extremist organization and that extremism and terror are also against them, not just against Israel.”

Obviously, after filling the minds of its people with hatred for Israel these nations will need some time to change what we call hearts and minds:

Such feelings are widespread among the people of the Gulf states too, so most of the recent cooperation with Israel—focusing on intelligence and security matters—has occurred in secret.

But, the Arab nations have taken some small public steps:

But some small steps have been public. An unofficial Saudi delegation, led by a retired general, visited Jerusalem last year and met with Israeli officials. The United Arab Emirates has permitted a small Israeli mission to the U.N.’s renewable-energy agency, based in Abu Dhabi, and Emirati officials are weighing whether to allow low-key Israeli participation in the 2020 Dubai World Expo.

Importantly, these nations are fed up with the irrational intransigence of Palestinian leaders:

Many in the Gulf shrug at such complaints. “Saudi Arabia has always wanted to support the Palestinian cause. It negotiated on their behalf, it spent a lot of money on their behalf,” said Mr. Ibrahim. “But unfortunately, the Palestinian leaders do not want to get along and are not working for their own people. You cannot just say no to everything.”

Under its new leadership Saudi Arabia has recognized the need to modernize, to enter the modern world, to become a player on the world stage. It has understood that petroleum is not forever and that it needs science and technology to develop as a modern nation. On those scores the Palestinian cause, however much it appeals to brain dead Western leftists, will not provide very much help.

As I have occasionally noted, when it comes to the Middle East, Israel is the solution, not the problem.