Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that they have formed a regional air defense alliance with the support of the United States. Gantz said the defense alliance, which has already neutralized Iran’s attacks, could be strengthened by President Biden’s visit to the region next month.
It is stated that Israel, which is in the process of getting closer with the Arab countries, which is in line with the USA and shares its concerns about Iran, offers these countries cooperation in the field of defense. Arab countries did not openly support this idea.
Can Israeli-Saudi Arabian relations normalize?
Washington hopes that greater cooperation, especially on security, will enable Israel to better integrate into the region and isolate Iran.
It is stated that the process may pave the way for Israel, which normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020, to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, an important regional power.
At a meeting with Israeli lawmakers, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, describing the alliance with the United States as the “Middle East Air Defense Alliance”, said that “such a cooperation process has begun”.
According to the official transcript of the meeting, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, “For a year, I have been running a comprehensive program with my partners in the Pentagon and the US administration to strengthen cooperation between Israel and the countries of the region.”
“This program is already in operation now,” Gantz said. “It has successfully neutralized Iran’s attempts to attack Israel and other countries,” he said.
The official transcript did not include the names of partner countries or details of the attacks that were stated to have been blocked. Information on how the alliance works was also not shared.
The US Embassy in Jerusalem also did not respond to requests for clarification on the defense alliance.
An Israeli official, who informed Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, stated that the partner countries synchronize their air defense systems via remote electronic communication instead of using the same physical facilities.
The governments of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates did not comment on the alliance announced by Israeli Defense Minister Gantz.
A Western diplomat in the region told Reuters last week that Washington is trying to persuade the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to agree to join the air defense system integrated by the US and Israel as a bloc. The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
The Western diplomat said the alliance’s proposal would “help fill the gap left by US equipment withdrawing from the region over the past two years, and make it easier for Israel and Saudi Arabia to reach a normalization agreement.”
Supporting Israel’s rapprochement with its neighbors in the Gulf, Riyadh states that a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital should be established for normalization of relations.
Biden heads to the region on July 13-16
“I hope to take another step in regional cooperation during President Joe Biden’s important visit to the region,” said Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
President Biden will go on a regional tour, which includes Israel and Saudi Arabia, on July 13-16, to meet with Arab leaders.
Iranian concern
He argued that the reason for the joint military activities of Iran, Israel and some Arab countries in the Gulf was “desperation”.
At a time when tensions escalated over Tehran’s nuclear program, rocket and drone attacks had occurred in parts of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq. These attacks were either claimed by militia groups supported by Iran or these groups were held responsible for the attacks.
The Gulf countries, which have a perception that the US’s commitment to regional security has decreased, wants to eliminate their concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program and the militia groups it supports in the region.