As arguably the greatest beneficiaries of U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman now seek to insulate themselves against indications they’ll soon be shunned by the Biden White House as rogue actors.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Neom, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Israeli sources confirmed.Netanyahu used a private plane belonging to businessman Udi Angel, which he has used for past diplomatic trips.
Read Here | Jerusalem Post
Also Read | Netanyahu trip to Saudi Arabia shows importance of Israeli-Saudi ties
The imminent establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is part of an on-going process of security cooperation going back many years. While that robs the event of some drama, it also increases its significance. It means that the process of ending the era of Arab-Israeli confrontation will continue, culminating perhaps in a political upheaval in Iran. That is the road that the Middle East may now be on.
Read Here | The National Interest
Pakistan is among the world’s most anti-Semitic countries, never mind that it has no Jewish community and few Pakistanis have ever met a Jew. That intolerance is a legacy of Saudi-funded religious seminaries, charities, and political assistance. Perhaps the student has now become the teacher: As Riyadh grows closer to Jerusalem, the Pakistani political leadership recoils, even at the expense of its long partnership with Saudi Arabia.
Read Here | The National Interest
When the Crown Prince of Bahrain and the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, they will not only be inking normalisation accords, they will be setting the stage for an even bigger prize: peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Read Here | Asia Times
Also Read | Israel Ties That Bind: What Is The US Giving Gulf Arab States?
Bahrain has joined the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to normalise relations with Israel, in a US-brokered deal that Palestinian leaders denounced as “another treacherous stab to the Palestinian cause”. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, announced the deal on Twitter on Friday after he spoke by phone to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Read Here | AlJazeera
Also Read | How The World Reacted To Bahrain, Israel Normalising Ties
A desert oil pipeline that Israel once operated as a secret joint venture with Iran could be a major beneficiary from the Trump-brokered peace deal with the United Arab Emirates. With the UAE formally scrapping the eight-decade Arab boycott of Israel—and other oil-rich Gulf neighbours likely to follow suit—the Jewish state is on the cusp of playing a much bigger role in the region’s energy trade, petroleum politics, and Big Oil investments.
The fact that energy-self-sufficient America no longer needs to play policeman in the Persian Gulf, and has wearied of sacrificing blood and treasure in regional wars, compels the Gulf states to act responsibly as a matter of self-preservation.
Israel’s landmark deal with the UAE to normalise ties could see businesses from the Jewish state operating on arch-rival Iran’s doorstep, but are unlikely to disturb Emirati economic ties to Iran. It could also pave the way for direct economic engagement between Israeli and UAE-based Iranian business people that would reap benefits from politics, experts say.
In the long annals of Arab antagonism toward Israel, the Abraham Accord should be celebrated as a historic breakthrough… In the annals of American peacemaking diplomacy in the Middle East, however, the breakthrough looks more like the latest in a long chain of unintended consequences.
