These statements weren’t surprising given the widespread impression that the Abraham Accords—which later grew to include Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco—were motivated largely by Arab fear of and animosity toward Iran. Israel’s comments, suggesting it aimed to use the accords as a platform to build a “regional NATO” to deter Tehran, fed this impression and underlined the fact that Israel, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE see Iran as a common enemy and have quietly collaborated for years to prevent Tehran from establishing hegemony in the Persian Gulf and Middle East at large.

However, recent events in the region highlight the need to use the Abraham Accords not only as a stick to threaten Iran, but as a means of defusing tension in the region.

First and foremost, it’s important to remember that the UAE and Israel have fundamentally different relationships with Iran that stems, in part, from their respective regional positions (in addition to the obvious major differences in religion and political systems).

The UAE has had territorial and other disputes with Iran for decades, including Iran’s occupation of three small islands in the Persian Gulf since the days of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as well as ongoing differences in Yemen. But the UAE and, particularly Dubai, have also had lucrative economic relations with Tehran. Given the UAE’s status as a global hub for trade, tourism, and investment, the UAE relies on stability and is no longer entirely confident that the United States would come to its aid in the event of a military confrontation with Iran.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have engaged in talks with Tehran following attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the UAE and missile and drone strikes on Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil facility in 2019, which occurred after the Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. On April 28, 2021, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman went so far as to say that the Kingdom is seeking “a good and positive relationship with Iran.”

The UAE’s situation is further complicated by its geography: it’s adjacent to Iran and home to a sizable Iranian community. Far from looking for a confrontation, many Emiratis are concerned that a military conflict could destroy its impressive but fragile infrastructure.

Israel, on the other hand, sees Iran as an imminent existential threat. Apart from conversations between former officials, Israel and Iran have had no overt contact for years and actively oppose each other directly and through proxies.

Unless Iran gets close to a nuclear breakout capability, Israel and the UAE aren’t likely to move against Iran together overtly—the UAE has too much to lose. But the Emirates could help defuse tension with Iran at a time when Israeli military activity in Syria continues against Iran.

Recent events concerning tensions between Iran and Israel only sharpen the need to create a communication channel between the parties to prevent escalation. The March 7 killing of two members of the IRGC, which has been attributed to Israel, and reports of an alleged Israeli attack on a drones factory run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps near Kermanshah in February, together with the Iranian response—which included the firing of missiles at what Tehran alleges was a Mossad base in Iraqi Kurdistan, in addition to a cyber-attack on Israeli government sites on March 14—may bring the parties closer to an armed confrontation than in any other point in their history.

The UAE could help avoid escalation by establishing a “hotline” to reduce the risk of miscalculations that lead to war. This could be especially useful at a time when Russia, which might have served such a role in the past, is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and its consequences.

In recent months, there has been a dramatic change when it comes to diplomatic relations and connections among some Middle Eastern countries. From a situation in which most countries didn’t talk to Israel or often even each other, there are new connections and a re-evaluation of the role of the United States.

Israel, lacking any overt channel of communication with the leadership in Tehran, has been left with the “language” of drones and missiles, with the danger that the “war between the wars” could escalate into the real thing. A new indirect channel is needed to help prevent this.

The relationship that Israel has managed to build with Hamas in the Gaza Strip—through Egypt as mediator—is an example of such a relationship. Although Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist and Israel sees Hamas as a terrorist organization, the Egyptian channel has sometimes made it possible to prevent and contain conflict.

The United States, which also lacks relations with Iran, has previously used Qatar, Oman, and the Vienna process to facilitate discreet dialogue with Tehran. Despite the common perception that the Abraham Accords is anti-Iran, there are constructive ways to use new relationships in the region to keep the present, uneasy peace. Arab Gulf countries should create a communication channel between Israel and Iran. It will not be easy, but it could keep hostility from triggering a regional war.

Danny Citrinowicz served for twenty-five years in a variety of command positions units in Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI) including as the head of the Iran branch in the Research and Analysis Division (RAD) in the Israeli defense intelligence and as the division’s representative in the United States. Follow him on Twitter: @citrinowicz.

Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/israel-and-iran-need-to-turn-down-the-heat-the-uae-could-be-the-best-choice-as-conduit-%ef%bf%bc/

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to warn Israel against continued Chinese investments in the country’s infrastructure and hi-tech industry when he meets with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington on Wednesday.

“We will be candid with our Israeli friends over risks to our shared national security interests that come with close cooperation with China,” a senior State Department official told reporters during a briefing ahead of the meeting.

Blinken is also expected to meet with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday.

The US has been concerned about the UAE’s use of Chinese Huawei Technologies in its communication system in light of its pending sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the Emirates, but when speaking of China it focused only on its concern with Israel.

The highlight of the day is expected to be a trilateral meeting Blinken will host with the two foreign ministers that is designed to highlight the success of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the former administration.

The accords allowed for Israel to normalize ties with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan last year, of which ties with the Emirates are the most advanced.

At the trilateral, Israel and the UAE are expected to announce two new working groups, one on religious coexistence and another that would focus on water and energy.

But the range of the topics that will be brought up in all meetings are fairly wide and include China, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lapid, in his public comments in Washington on Tuesday, will focus on the strong US-Israel bilateral ties and the special relationship Israel has with America and the Biden administration.

Though US officials echoed those same sentiments at the briefing, they also discussed topics of discord in the relationship.

Biden administration officials had spoken about China with National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata when he was in Washington earlier this month.

But State Department senior officials remained vague on Tuesday with respect to their specific concerns on China.

“The US views China as a competitor that challenges the existing international rules-based order; our relationship with China will be competitive when it should be,” the official stated.

ON IRAN, a senior State Department official said that Washington’s main objective at this time is the revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran deal, which Israel has traditionally opposed.

Both the US and Israel are joined in their opposition to a nuclear Iran but have differed about how best to achieve that objective.

Lapid said on Tuesday that Iran was one of the major focal points of his Washington trip.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the senior State Department officials said that at Wednesday’s meetings, Blinken will “reaffirm our belief” in the benefits of a two-state solution. He will also express his appreciation for “Minister Lapid’s recent, strong statement condemning settler violence in the West Bank.”

The Israeli government is split on how best to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett opposing a two-state resolution to the conflict while Lapid has supported it.

But Lapid’s visions of the borders of those two states differ from those envisioned by the Biden administration, which has not advanced a peace process. The senior State Department officials did not mention any movement on that front, except for stating that “we seek to advance it when we can, as best as we can.”

An official said that the accords are not a substitute for the two-state solutions and suggested that they could be used to push for progress toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We hope that normalization can be leveraged to advance progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track,” the official said.

An official also spoke of the Biden administration’s commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative edge and its support for supplemental funding for the defensive Iron Dome system it provides Israel to protect Israeli citizens against Hamas rockets.

The officials repeated their opposition to Israeli settlement activity and the Palestinian Authority’s monthly stipends to terrorists and their families.

Separately, during Lapid’s trip, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz will meet with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/us-to-warn-israel-china-ties-are-a-joint-national-security-risk-681833

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According to recent reports Israel’s defense establishment has noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is trying to improve their air defense systems in areas that the Israeli military has been attacking. These reports claim that Iran is developing an array of surface-to-air missiles in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and other locations, seeking to bring down Israeli aircraft that target Iran and its proxies.

These reports come a couple of days after it was reported that Israel targeted Hezbollah-linked targets in Syria. This came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not disrupt Israeli attacks upon Iranian targets in Syria. According to these reports, Israel hit yet another three more targets in Syria early Monday morning. However, it should be added that during a recent Israeli air strike on Syria, Syrian soldiers fired back utilizing an Iranian-made missile defense system.

Dr. Seth Frantzman, an expert on drone warfare recently published a book titled Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machines and Artificial Intelligence. He noted in a recent article in the Jerusalem Post that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies have also used drones to attack the State of Israel: “In February 2018, an Iranian drone from the T-4 base near Palmyra flew into Israeli airspace. Israel shot it down. In May 2021, another Iranian drone, brought from Iraq, flew into Israeli airspace, and was downed. In August 2019, Israel struck a Hezbollah killer drone team that was operating near the Golan Heights border.”

Other reports verify that the Israeli government has noted an increased use of Iranian drones targeting Israel by Hezbollah, Hamas, and others. Iranian political theorist Dr. Reza Parchizadeh stated in an interview with Israel Today: “The reason for the Iranian regime propping up Syria’s air defenses is that it is anticipating an overwhelming Israeli invasion of Iran’s nuclear facilities soon. The regime knows that once the charade of the Vienna talks for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal is over and there is no more room to play around on the issue, it will have to get entrenched and make the final rush for the nuclear bomb. The ‘props’ in Syria are erected to shut down as many Israeli aircraft as they can before they reach their targets in Iran.”

Sirwan Mansouri, a Kurdish journalist based in the Middle East, concurred in an interview with Israel Today: “It is said that Israeli officials are ready to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in case of negotiation failure and they even set a budget for it. The talks to rejoin the JCPOA are reaching a dead end and Iran tries to waste time to shorten the needed time for making a nuclear bomb. Although the West and especially the US know this fact, they prefer to solve the problem by negotiations. But the matter for Israel is completely different.”

Israel is more willing to act to stop a nuclear Iran than the US is. Aside from this fact, Mansouri added that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ideologically committed to the destruction of Israel: “Iran never has hidden its intention to target Israel by any means. However, Iran does not have the power on the ground or in the air to defeat Israel, so they have been working on a new capability in recent decades: cyber-attacks and missile systems. Iran has increased its missile range and has acquired new radar capabilities.”

According to Mansouri, Iran has established a missile network system in areas controlled by their proxy groups in Lebanon, Syria and even Libya “to attack Israel in times of danger. Israel knows that Iran is moving to make an atomic bomb and the West knows it as well, but they are more far from Iran than Israel is, so the real threat is towards Israel. Iran also has strengthened its drones, which function as a suicide system. If there is a war, Iran can launch thousands of missiles and drones toward Israel. Although most will be destroyed by the Iron Dome, there will be intense psychological consequences for Israeli citizens.”

Mansouri claims that the West lacks the desire to wage war against Iran’s regime and that the Islamic Republic as well as Israel know this: “So, just one way remains I think and that is Israel must hit Iran’s nuclear facilities hard before it reaches the atomic bomb, so that it destroys Iran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon forever. At the same time, Israel must strengthen its defense system against Iran’s missiles and utilize modern technology such as the F-35 jets to neutralize Iran’s radar system and to use laser-based defense systems against its missiles.”

Nevertheless, Mansouri stressed that Israel does have some advantages in a possible war. He claimed that in the wake of the Abraham Accords, Israel can use the air space of its Arab allies, who are enemies of Iran ideologically, to attack Iran. According to Mansouri, it is also possible for Israel to utilize opposition groups inside Iran, who can “weaken the power of Iran’s regime to act normally and use its ultimate power.”

For example, inside of Iran, Southern Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Baloch, and Ahwaz all have grievances against the Islamic Republic of Iran and have active opposition groups, some of which seek to secede from Iran and establish their own sovereign nations, free of Persian hegemony. Two of these groups, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis, are known to be friendly towards Israel and will be eager to help fight against the mullahs’ regime.

There are also many liberal Persians who seek to have a democratic regime replace the Islamic Republic, as well as some Persian nationalists who would like the son of the former Shah to return to power. Some of them may also be eager to help Israel as well.

In conclusion, Mansouri declared: “I think if there is a war and Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and military bases using its full power the people’s dissatisfaction inside the country may lead to regime change. The Shah of Iran was a good friend of Israel in the past. Things can be like that again. Iran and Israel do not have to be enemies. If Israel liberates the Iranian people from this regime, then many Iranians will be grateful and help them.”

Source: https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/report-israel-readying-to-attack-irans-nuclear-facilities-in-case-of-negotiation-failure/

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“The region is at a critical time regarding Iran. This is our time to deliver a strong and unified message — we will never allow Iran to go nuclear,” Hulata told the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue security forum in Bahrain on Sunday. “Iran has made great strides in its UAV development and usage, but its nuclear development program is at the top of the threat list.”

The former Mossad officer warned that should Iran achieve its nuclear ambitions, “the region as we know it is no longer; the free world will face extreme threats it hasn’t faced before.”

“Iran will not make any concessions just because we ask them nicely. The Iranian issue is not just our problem, it’s a global problem,” Hulata remarked. “We support a unified global determination action. But at the same time Israel will be ready to defend itself if it needs to. We will make the preparations to do so.”

The comments come as stalled nuclear talks with Iran are scheduled to resume later this month in Vienna.

Hulata said that although the US and Israel may not agree on everything, “we share the goals of preventing Iran from ever being able to break out nuclear weapons and to limit the regional domination.”

Also speaking at the security forum, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk reiterated that the US commitment to Israel’s national security is “ironclad and sacrosanct.”

McGurk stated that the US is “deeply concerned as should the entire world [be] … about the dramatic and increasing acceleration of Iran’s nuclear program since the prior presidential administration left the JCPOA.”

McGurk emphasized that although the Biden administration is committed to diplomacy, the US is also prepared to pursue other options should the efforts fail.

“If we need to use force we are prepared to do so decisively, we are not going to get drawn into tit for tat exchanges of fire with Iranian-backed proxy groups,” McGurk warned.

Hulata pointed out that his participation in the security forum coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements signed between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, and brokered by the US.

“These agreements have been a clear message across the region, that collaboration, innovation, and optimistic vision are the best driving forces for the better future of our peoples,” Hulata said.

Hulata disclosed that he would be traveling to the UAE later on Sunday to join Israeli Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar, who will be signing a declaration of intent with her Jordanian counterpart to build a large solar power plant in the kingdom. The deal also plan for the construction of a desalination plant in Israel to supply fresh water to Jordan.

Source: https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/11/21/we-will-never-allow-iran-to-go-nuclear-israels-security-adviser-tells-bahrain-summit/

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett focused on Iran in a recorded address to the 5th annual Christian Media Summit on Thursday, saying Tehran was instigating terror that threatened Israel and other countries.

“As the world fights this invisible enemy,” he said, referring to COVID-19, “in Israel, we’re also fighting a very visible enemy — radical militant Islam that is sweeping across the Middle East.”

“The terror that begins in Tehran seeks to destroy Israel, dominate the world and drive it into a dark abyss,” he continued.

Bennett also cited positive developments for Israel, saying it was “facing a new dawn” after forging ties the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last year.

“This conference commemorates the signing of the Abraham Accords, which have contributed greatly to regional stability, prosperity and peace between Israel and her neighbors,” he said.

He added that Israel is the only place in the Middle East “where the Christian community is growing, thriving and prospering.”

“Today, more than ever, Christians stand united with Israel,” he said. “And today, more than ever, Israel stands united with Christians.”

According to the host Government Press Office, over 150 news executives and opinion leaders in Christian media attended this year’s virtual gathering, which it said is meant to “better understanding and strengthen the friendship between Christians” and Israel.

Former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the Abraham Accords, which were brokered while he was premier, during his speech to the summit.

He portrayed the peace agreements as a defeat for Palestinian rejectionism, calling it the “first time Israel made peace for peace.”

Netanyahu called this a “novel concept” and “the way of the future.”

“We removed the Palestinian veto,” Netanyahu said. “Palestinians don’t want peace with Israel. The Palestinians don’t want a state next to Israel. They want a state instead of Israel.”

Netanyahu added that Arab countries were also pushed toward Israel because of the specter of a nuclear Iran, which “wants to dominate and conquer all these Arab lands and turn everyone against these forces of moderation and the future.”

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, in his address to the summit, discussed “the important role Christian media plays in connecting Christians everywhere with Israel, and in strengthening the friendship between Christians and Jews around the world.”

He said that Christian Zionists could help expand the “circle of peace” and build upon the Abraham Accords.

“Israel is now entering a new era,” Lapid said. “An era of peace, friendship, and coexistence. An era based on the idea that what unites us is greater than what divides us. An era of peace between countries and between peoples.”

The summit included a session with Arab journalists from Abraham Accords countries, a talk on Black Christian Zionism, and messages from well-known rabbis and authors.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-to-christian-media-summit-iranian-terror-is-sweeping-the-region/

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EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said there has “never been a greater embarrassment” to the United States than the Biden Administration’s “rushed” withdrawal of military assets from Afghanistan, telling Fox News that the U.S. has “an incompetent person as the leader of our country.”

Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News digital, reflected on Sept. 11, 2001, calling it a “terrible day in our history,” but he pointed to a “terrible week in our history recently.”

“To have that embarrassment to take place in Afghanistan with the same people who did the damage 20 years ago—it is the greatest embarrassment in the history of our country,” Trump said.

“There has never been anything like this. It looks like we fled, and it is all because we have an incompetent person as the leader of our country,” Trump told Fox News.

Trump, who brokered a deal with the Taliban as president for a May 2021 troop withdrawal, said this “never would have happened” under his administration.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT’S SIMPLY ‘UP TO AMERICANS’ TO CHOOSE TO FLEE AFGHANISTAN, DESPITE MANY HIDING FROM TALIBAN

“I didn’t even stick to it because I wanted to get out by May 1, and when they violated conditions, we bombed and did a lot of things,” Trump said. “They adhered to one condition— don’t kill Americans or soldiers.”

Trump added: “We hadn’t lost a solider or an American in 18 months in Afghanistan. It was going along very well.”

The Biden Administration removed all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, after the country fell to the Taliban.

“They never would have come anywhere near us. It wouldn’t have happened, they wouldn’t have taken over anything,” Trump said. “They knew that if they did, they would be bombed into hell.”

He added: “They knew that—and that’s why they never would have come in to fill this vacuum.”

FILE — President Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as he boards Air Force One. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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The Biden administration is considering appointing former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro to a Mideast role that would marshal and potentially expand the Abraham Accords.
The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for a renewed push to encourage more Arab countries to sign accords with Israel and working to strengthen existing deals after last month’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip interrupted those diplomatic efforts.

The embrace of the so-called Abraham Accords is a rare carryover of a signature Trump administration policy by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

The Trump administration put U.S. clout and incentives into landing the country-by-country pacts by four Arab states last year, easing enmity and isolation for the Jewish state in the Middle East that had dated back to Israel’s 1948 founding. The Biden administration saw significant prospects of several other Arab governments signing accords soothing and normalizing relations with Israel.

U.S. officials have declined to publicly identify the countries they regard as promising prospects.

Sudan, which signed a general declaration of peaceful intent but has not yet signed on to diplomatic relations with Israel, had been a prospect. Oman, which has a policy of non-interference that allows it to be a broker across the Middle East’s fault lines, long has been seen by Westerners as a likely contender.

But the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last month has complicated U.S.-backed diplomacy for new Abraham accords.

The fighting “has strengthened the conviction of opponents of normalization” with Israel, activist Doura Gambo said in Sudan. Sudanese were already divided over their government’s agreement last year to become one of the four Arab states signing accords. In Sudan’s case, the Trump administration offered financial relief from U.S. sanctions.

The Biden administration is considering appointing a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, to a Mideast role that would marshal and potentially expand the country-by-country accords between Israel and Mideast governments.

Two people familiar with the matter confirmed Shapiro was being considered for the job, as first reported by The Washington Post. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

U.S. officials also are working to encourage more business, education, and other ties among the four Arab states and Israel. They hope visible success there will also promote the bilateral accords in the region, at the same time the U.S. works to advance the resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Last year, the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab country in over two decades to establish ties with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan in 1979 and 1994, respectively. It was a move that bypassed the Palestinians, who saw it as a betrayal.

The Abraham Accords include a general declaration of support for peaceful relations in the Middle East among Jews, Muslims, and Christians, all followers of religions linked to the patriarch Abraham. The Trump administration saw the accords partly as paving a path toward full ties with Israel, including in security and intelligence cooperation to counter common rivals, such as Iran.

The deals former President Donald Trump struck were “an important achievement, one that not only we support, but one we’d like to build on,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week.

In addition, “we’re looking at countries that may want to join in and take part and begin to normalize their own relations with Israel. That, too, has been very much part of conversations I’ve had with, with several of my counterparts,” Blinken added.

Source: https://worldisraelnews.com/biden-embraces-trump-policy-in-backing-arab-israeli-deals/

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, speaks to his father, King Salman, at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, December 9, 2018. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

A senior defense official on Thursday predicted Saudi Arabia would soon move to normalize ties with Israel.

The comments by the official, who spoke to reporters as Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited America, came amid reports that Sudan was poised to follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in normalizing diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

“Soon Sudan and later Saudi Arabia will come out of the closet,” the official was quoted saying by Hebrew media, without further elaborating.

Saudi leaders have publicly ruled out forging ties with Israel before a Palestinian state is created, even as they have welcomed the normalization deals between the Jewish state and Gulf Arab states signed in Washington last month.

Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo encouraged Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, listens to Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during their meeting at the State Department, October 14, 2020, in Washington. (Manuel Balce Cenate/Pool/AFP)

“We hope Saudi Arabia will consider normalizing its relationships as well. We want to thank them for the assistance they’ve had in the success of the Abraham Accords so far,” said Pompeo, while hosting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Washington.

When the White House announced in August that the United Arab Emirates and Israel had agreed to establish full diplomatic ties — a move matched by Bahrain weeks later — Saudi Arabia refrained from criticizing the deal or hosting summits condemning the decision, despite Palestinian requests to do so. The Palestinians have slammed the agreements as a “betrayal of Jerusalem, al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause,” but government-controlled Saudi media hailed them as historic and good for regional peace.

The kingdom also approved the use of Saudi airspace for Israeli flights to the UAE, a decision announced the day after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. Kushner has been pushing Arab states to normalize ties with Israel and has said that the Jewish state could eventually enjoy fully normalized relations with Saudi Arabia.

Covert ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia are believed to have been growing in recent years. The shift in policy has reportedly been led by the crown prince, who sees Israel as a strategic partner in the fight against Iranian influence in the region.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, meets with presidential adviser Jared Kushner in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 1, 2020. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

Some Saudi officials have also stepped up criticism of the Palestinians.

In a recent interview, the former Saudi ambassador to the US and former intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan called Palestinian leaders “failures” who squandered opportunities for peace over decades.

“The Palestinian cause is a just cause, but its advocates are failures. The Israeli cause is unjust, but its advocates are successful. That sums up the events of the last 70 or 75 years,” bin Sultan said.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-arabia-will-soon-move-to-normalize-ties-with-israel-official-predicts/

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Israel, Bahrain

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