Israel's unlikely Arab alliance key to countering threat of Iran

[Ali_Baba]

Israel's unlikely Arab alliance key to countering threat of Iran

Israel, Bahrain and the UAE have begun to form a Nato-like alliance since normalising relations

www.telegraph.co.uk

Israel's unlikely Arab alliance key to countering threat of Iran

Israel, Bahrain and the UAE have begun to form a Nato-like alliance since normalising relations
By James Rothwell Jerusalem
25 December 2021 • 12:52pm


It was the moment that defined an historic new security pact in the Middle East.
Meeting for the first time in Abu Dhabi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed was seen whispering in the ear of Naftali Bennett, Israel's new prime minister.

The historic meeting between an Israeli and Emitati leader came roughly a year after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the treaty which normalised relations between the two countries.

Both men are deeply concerned about growing Iranian influence in the region, while Israel regards the regime's nuclear programme as an existential threat.

And while there was no public mention of Iran during their summit, it is hard to believe that it did not crop up in private conversation.
In response to the nuclear threat, Israel has ramped up military exercises with Western allies this year, including the RAF, in a clear display of force against the Islamic Republic.

But unlike previous drills, 2021 saw unprecedented attendance by the United Arab Emirates as well as Bahrain, also a signatory of the Abraham Accords.

Both countries upended decades of foreign policy in the Arab world last year by embracing the Jewish state before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved.

And as a direct result of those accords, analysts say, the three countries have been able to form a new regional security alliance in the spirit of a Middle Eastern Nato.

During one November exercise involving US, Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini naval forces in the Red Sea, Israeli officers met face-to-face with their Gulf counterparts for the first time.

The drill, led by the US Navy's 5th Fleet, focused on "visit, board, search and seizure tactics," and Israeli naval commanders described it as an "exciting" moment that opened the door to much deeper security cooperation in 2022.

At the time, an Israeli defence official said the exercise was designed to "counter Iran's aggression," notably the deadly drone strike on the Mercer Street oil tanker over the summer, which killed a UK citizen and a Romanian citizen.

"[This was] a brutal terror act - we have to guard the sea and make it a safe place," they said.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates sent its commander of the air force, Ibrahim Nasser Muhammed al-Alawi, to observe Israel's bi-annual Blue Flag exercise in October.

Israel hailed the aerial drill as the largest ever to be held by the Jewish state, with more than 70 fighter jets and 1,500 personnel taking part.

A Hellenic air force F-16 fighter lands during the "Blue Flag" multinational air defence exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, in October

Photographs of the exercise showed the Emirati commander inspecting Israeli forces - an unusual sight in a region where Arab states generally prefer to meet Israeli officials behind closed doors.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have soared this year over the Iran nuclear deal, which Western leaders have been trying to revive via talks in Vienna with Tehran which have so far proven fruitless.

Iran has consistently denied that it is building nuclear weapons and insists the programme is peaceful.
Israel vehemently opposes a return to the Obama-era nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The two countries are locked in an escalating "shadow war" in which they have been accused of attacking each others' ships in the Gulf region.

As fighter jets tore across the sky above the Mediterranean this summer, Israeli government rhetoric continued to escalate, with weekly threats of a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Bennett, the Israel prime minister, has said he is ready to "act alone" against the Islamic Republic, while his government has reportedly set aside a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) war chest for military action.

Earlier in December, it emerged that Israel was preparing for a major exercise in the Spring that would simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Dozens of Israeli air force aircraft, including the F-15, F-35, and F-16 fighter jets will be involved, officials said.

However, one leading expert on the Iran-Israel conflict said he was sceptical about the prospect of Israel resorting to open warfare.

"On a personal level, I am doubtful. If Israel wants to do something it will be clandestine, behind the scenes," said Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of the Iran branch of Israel's military intelligence unit.

He added that if Israel did launch an overt attack, "then they will find themselves in a regional war with the Iranian network from the Houthis to Hizbollah.

Mr Citrinowicz also said that the UAE was reluctant to back any action that would jeopardise its own relationship with Iran, which is more delicate than Israel's as it includes diplomatic channels.

"On Israel's behalf the most important thing is using these visits [to Gulf states] to show Iran that we have a military option, not just an Israeli one, but with other partners," he said.

"It's different from the UAE perspective, they want to show Iran that they want to defuse the situation by economic cooperation but are also preserving their relationship with Israel."

A senior Emirati security adviser made a rare visit to Iran earlier in December, which suggests that the UAE will continue to rely on a "two-track" approach of military exercises with Israel and behind-the-scenes diplomacy next year.

As 2022 approaches, there is speculation that Saudi Arabia, the main power player in the Gulf, could be preparing to take the plunge and also normalise relations with Israel.

However, in public, the Kingdom continues to insist that this will only take place after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

 

[Ali_Baba]

Israel is far from Iran and Iran's ability to respond to Israel is limited (as it is for Israel)- but UAE is across the water .....

 

[Aramagedon]

They are in bed together since daddy British created them.

Aal Saud become British agents

Abdul Aziz ibn Saud understood the utility of being a British puppet early on. By surrendering to the British, he secured vital support that brought the entire Arabian Peninsula under his family’s control.

crescent.icit-digital.org

 

[zartosht]

Israel is far from Iran and Iran's ability to respond to Israel is limited (as it is for Israel)- but UAE is across the water .....

worry not my friend, Iran has more then enough precision strike missiles to wipe both the zionist entity, and their bastard cousin wahabi arab emirates into the stone ages..... you dont have to worry about distance...

UAE though is even in a worse position. in range of short range iranian missiles , 1 wrong move, and their water desalination plants, oil facilities, air bases, naval bases all go poof. along with all the western expats, and their money. and their reputation as a safe economic area.

Not to mention the thousands of arab settlers living in the Iranian island of abu musa under IRGC control. I wouldnt want to be them, if a war between Iran and the UAE breaks out.

 

[Clutch]

Iran should trump the Arabs and make full peace with the Israeli. Jewish people have more love for Persians than Arabs. They both view Arabs as the inferior slave race.

The Persian Cyrus the Great is an honorary prophet that helped the Jews escape Babylonian enslavement. The Arabs are viewed by the Israeli as illegitimate children of Abraham's slave mistress.

If Iran makes peace with Israel, the Iranians and the Israeli can collectively bomb the Gulf Arabs into smithereens back into the stone camel ages...

 

[Falcon29]

Bahrainis are ethnically Iranian not even Arab. UAE has small number of Arabs. None represent Arab world. Arab world is not on good terms with Iran or Israel. And will not be.

 

[Battlion25]

If Iran makes peace with Israel, the Iranians and the Israeli can collectively bomb the Gulf Arabs

Just these in Peninsula shield and allies in the area could tear them both on the same day a new arsehole. You have Egypt, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Sudan that is 9 countries population wise 300-400m armed to the teeth. that is just the interior of Arabia the middle section.

You will have to bring NATO to realistically fight them because there is scale to wars but than Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Central Asia, Malaysia etc etc could get involved on KSA side which could turn into one gigantic war in epic proportions. But Israel and the Gulfies will remain allies until they have achieved their common goals and this was just hypothetical explaining to you that there is scale to wars of this nature

 

[Clutch]

Just these in Peninsula shield and allies in the area could tear them both on the same day a new arsehole. You have Egypt, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Sudan that is 9 countries population wise 300-400m armed to the teeth. that is just the interior of Arabia the middle section.

You will have to bring NATO to realistically fight them because there is scale to wars but than Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Central Asia, Malaysia etc etc could get involved on KSA side which could turn into one gigantic war in epic proportions. But Israel and the Gulfies will remain allies until they have achieved their common goals and this was just hypothetical explaining to you that there is scale to wars of this nature.

In my calculations 6-7 billion people will perish in WW3

Israel + Iran will be the ultimate war machine to destroy the Arabs .

Israel single handedly defeated all the Arabs

 

[Trango Towers]

Israel is far from Iran and Iran's ability to respond to Israel is limited (as it is for Israel)- but UAE is across the water .....

Israel will use Muslims to kill Muslims. They will sit back and laugh

 

[Battlion25]

Israel single handedly

Modern day war is not based on cartoon.. You are talking about a war that was ended in 6 days from a bygone era because of backdoor political threat from washtingon it was never even fought that war to be honest..

Israel can't even roll over non-state actors like Hezbollah the ground reality is different and the populations of these countries have increased including their armements and technology.

Speaking from conventional point of view.. Israel is the easiest one to roll over compared to Iran that is imo atleast 20-30 times stronger because they have depth and population to hold off for a good while atleast 2-3 years of high intensive war and struggle on whereas Israel could be over in a matter of days if a serioius push comes to them

 

[Bahram Esfandiari]

Bahrainis are ethnically Iranian not even Arab. UAE has small number of Arabs. None represent Arab world. Arab world is not on good terms with Iran or Israel. And will not be.

"Arab world" is lining up to suck Israel's ****. Are you living under a rock???

 

[Pandora]

Israel will use Muslims to kill Muslims. They will sit back and laugh

Muslims will kill each other even without help of israel. If there wasnt a threat of Iran UAE and Saudis would be ripping each other apart. Israel is just an excuse.

 

[Muhammed45]

Modern day war is not based on cartoon.. You are talking about a war that was ended in 6 days from a bygone era because of backdoor political threat from washtingon it was never even fought that war to be honest..

Israel can't even roll over non-state actors like Hezbollah the ground reality is different and the populations of these countries have increased including their armements and technology.

Speaking from conventional point of view.. Israel is the easiest one to roll over compared to Iran that is imo atleast 20-30 times stronger because they have depth and population to hold off for a good while atleast 2-3 years of high intensive war and struggle on whereas Israel could be over in a matter of days if a serioius push comes to them

Why do you think they are stronger than the past? Arab people in majority are not supporters of these Arab monarchs like Saddam that i can confidently claim was strongest among Arab dictators. Most of Persian Gulf Arabs wet their pants when he threatened them.

The Hezbollah that you called a non state actor is stronger than many of European armies armed with precision strike missiles from AShCM to BMs like Fateh-110 having whole Israeli territory under its range of missiles. They unlike Arab monarchs have a will to fight like a Mortal Combat.

Arab societies as a whole have entered a dangerous game with no end to it. It happens when you owe your security to Foreign powers without sacrificing your own flesh and blood. Doomsday coming for Arab monarchs in the region.

Iran won't be a part of Zionist front as far as the Revolution is alive and kicking.

 

[dBSPL]

ultimate war machine to destroy the Arabs .

Currently, 10 million Sunni Arabs in the Levant and Iraq either died, were mentally-physically disabled, or had to leave their homeland. Hundreds of thousands of Arabs are so helpless that they still risk living in tents in the mud. Probably millions of Arabs were radicalized in a geography scorched with terror and oppression. The region has lost a youth generation. The indigenous people of the region were eroded and depopulated. In this way, what external factors had probably dreamed of for a hundred years came true. Demographic engineering... I mean, we still don't quite understand what's going on right now, and we're making projections about what's going to happen in the future. We are actually like frogs in a boiling pot.

 

[waz]

Israel's unlikely Arab alliance key to countering threat of Iran

Israel, Bahrain and the UAE have begun to form a Nato-like alliance since normalising relations

www.telegraph.co.uk

Israel's unlikely Arab alliance key to countering threat of Iran

Israel, Bahrain and the UAE have begun to form a Nato-like alliance since normalising relations
By James Rothwell Jerusalem
25 December 2021 • 12:52pm


It was the moment that defined an historic new security pact in the Middle East.
Meeting for the first time in Abu Dhabi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed was seen whispering in the ear of Naftali Bennett, Israel's new prime minister.

The historic meeting between an Israeli and Emitati leader came roughly a year after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the treaty which normalised relations between the two countries.

Both men are deeply concerned about growing Iranian influence in the region, while Israel regards the regime's nuclear programme as an existential threat.

And while there was no public mention of Iran during their summit, it is hard to believe that it did not crop up in private conversation.
In response to the nuclear threat, Israel has ramped up military exercises with Western allies this year, including the RAF, in a clear display of force against the Islamic Republic.

But unlike previous drills, 2021 saw unprecedented attendance by the United Arab Emirates as well as Bahrain, also a signatory of the Abraham Accords.

Both countries upended decades of foreign policy in the Arab world last year by embracing the Jewish state before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved.

And as a direct result of those accords, analysts say, the three countries have been able to form a new regional security alliance in the spirit of a Middle Eastern Nato.

During one November exercise involving US, Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini naval forces in the Red Sea, Israeli officers met face-to-face with their Gulf counterparts for the first time.

The drill, led by the US Navy's 5th Fleet, focused on "visit, board, search and seizure tactics," and Israeli naval commanders described it as an "exciting" moment that opened the door to much deeper security cooperation in 2022.

At the time, an Israeli defence official said the exercise was designed to "counter Iran's aggression," notably the deadly drone strike on the Mercer Street oil tanker over the summer, which killed a UK citizen and a Romanian citizen.

"[This was] a brutal terror act - we have to guard the sea and make it a safe place," they said.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates sent its commander of the air force, Ibrahim Nasser Muhammed al-Alawi, to observe Israel's bi-annual Blue Flag exercise in October.

Israel hailed the aerial drill as the largest ever to be held by the Jewish state, with more than 70 fighter jets and 1,500 personnel taking part.

A Hellenic air force F-16 fighter lands during the "Blue Flag" multinational air defence exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, in October

Photographs of the exercise showed the Emirati commander inspecting Israeli forces - an unusual sight in a region where Arab states generally prefer to meet Israeli officials behind closed doors.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have soared this year over the Iran nuclear deal, which Western leaders have been trying to revive via talks in Vienna with Tehran which have so far proven fruitless.

Iran has consistently denied that it is building nuclear weapons and insists the programme is peaceful.
Israel vehemently opposes a return to the Obama-era nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The two countries are locked in an escalating "shadow war" in which they have been accused of attacking each others' ships in the Gulf region.

As fighter jets tore across the sky above the Mediterranean this summer, Israeli government rhetoric continued to escalate, with weekly threats of a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Bennett, the Israel prime minister, has said he is ready to "act alone" against the Islamic Republic, while his government has reportedly set aside a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) war chest for military action.

Earlier in December, it emerged that Israel was preparing for a major exercise in the Spring that would simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Dozens of Israeli air force aircraft, including the F-15, F-35, and F-16 fighter jets will be involved, officials said.

However, one leading expert on the Iran-Israel conflict said he was sceptical about the prospect of Israel resorting to open warfare.

"On a personal level, I am doubtful. If Israel wants to do something it will be clandestine, behind the scenes," said Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of the Iran branch of Israel's military intelligence unit.

He added that if Israel did launch an overt attack, "then they will find themselves in a regional war with the Iranian network from the Houthis to Hizbollah.

Mr Citrinowicz also said that the UAE was reluctant to back any action that would jeopardise its own relationship with Iran, which is more delicate than Israel's as it includes diplomatic channels.

"On Israel's behalf the most important thing is using these visits [to Gulf states] to show Iran that we have a military option, not just an Israeli one, but with other partners," he said.

"It's different from the UAE perspective, they want to show Iran that they want to defuse the situation by economic cooperation but are also preserving their relationship with Israel."

A senior Emirati security adviser made a rare visit to Iran earlier in December, which suggests that the UAE will continue to rely on a "two-track" approach of military exercises with Israel and behind-the-scenes diplomacy next year.

As 2022 approaches, there is speculation that Saudi Arabia, the main power player in the Gulf, could be preparing to take the plunge and also normalise relations with Israel.

However, in public, the Kingdom continues to insist that this will only take place after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Oh a match made in hell......