Saudi Arabia: Israel's Dream State
Israel is happy to let Riyadh lead the anti-Iranian alliance, but not so happy
to pay the political price of real cooperation
By Zvi Bar'el
Ha'aretz,
November 20, 2017
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Fayez Nureldine/AFP
Israel has no better ally than Saudi Arabia. It fights Hezbollah
and overthrew the Lebanese prime minister who had lived in peace
with that organization for a year. There is no other country in
the world, including the United States, that acts with such
resolve against Iran. Saudi Arabia even went to war in Yemen,
not for the Yemenis, who as far as Riyadh is concerned could die
of starvation, but to block Iran’s influence.
Saudi Arabia has warned Hamas against renewing its ties with
Tehran and is pressing Washington to come out of its coma and
act against the Iranian threat. It seems as if Saudi Arabia
would be happy to have Israel join the “Sunni axis.” Good for
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who dared to get rid of
several ministers in his battle against corruption and isn’t
afraid to confront the Saudi religious
oligarchy.
Saudi Arabia is the dream of the Jewish state. Its behavior
toward Iran makes mincemeat out of the axiom behind Israel’s
security strategy, namely that all Arab states seek to destroy
it, but in return Saudi Arabia reinforces Iran’s status as the
ultimate enemy.
One might expect that such an alliance with an Arab power that
sees eye-to-eye
with Israel regarding its greatest enemy would
demand some serious consideration of Saudi interests in the
Israeli-Palestinian arena; for example, to revive the Saudi
peace initiative, which calls for Arab normalization with Israel
in return for withdrawing from the territories. No harm would be
done if Israel made a gesture toward the kingdom and offered to
begin negotiating with the Palestinians on the basis of that
initiative, and even invite
Riyadh to mediate.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to try to form an Arab coalition
made up of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia for this purpose. After all, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu never fails to boast of the quality of the relations
that he (of course, he) has managed to develop with Arab
countries, even those that have no peace treaty with Israel. The
alliance with Egypt is working well along the southern border
and there is quiet and excellent cooperation with Jordan, while
the UAE has recently become a silent partner. On the face of it,
there could be no better combination of forces for the State of
Israel.
The problem is that even an alliance of interests with Saudi
Arabia has a fatal flaw. It requires that Israel pay too heavy a
political price. Israel believes it is permitted to cooperate
with Arab states against common enemies, but not in return for a
chance at real peace. The enormous security and economic
benefits that would derive from a diplomatic process that has
the participation of anti-Iranian Arab states is apparently
worthless in Israeli eyes. It prefers to pay the economic and
security costs of taking care of half a million settlers, not to
mention the collapse of Israeli democracy. An alliance with
Saudi Arabia or other Arab states? Only if it’s free.
And thus, while Israel cheers when a ballistic missile is fired
from Yemen on the Saudi capital, and celebrates the
resignation/removal of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri,
because it sees both as incentives for intensifying the struggle
against Iran, it prickles like a porcupine when anyone mentions
the Saudi peace initiative. Israel is assuming that the common
enemy will make the kingdom and other Arab countries forget that
abomination called the peace process.
In the seven years that have passed since the Arab Spring and
the three years since the Islamic State seized control of lands
in Syria and Iraq, Middle Eastern alliances and coalitions have
been shifting like the colors in a kaleidoscope. Those who know
how to exploit opportunities, like Russia, Iran and Turkey, will
gain diplomatic capital. Such an opportunity now lies before
Israel. But Israel has learned the Palestinian lesson well; it
never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
