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Israel and Saudi Arabia Send a Clear Signal to Iran - and Joe Biden
(Economist-UK) Calls to Prime Minister Netanyahu's office to confirm reports that he, Secretary of State Pompeo, and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman had met in Saudi Arabia on Sunday were not rebuffed with denials. Equally surprising was the lack of action by Israel's military censors, who in the past had quickly quashed similar reports of Israeli-Saudi cooperation. Saudi officials have also confirmed the meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported. Both Israel and the Saudis seem happy enough that the news has leaked out because of two key messages it sends. The first is as a warning to Iran as it steps up its nuclear activities. The second is to the incoming American administration. Israel and the Saudis seem to have put the president-elect on notice that they intend to pool their considerable diplomatic and political capital in Washington to oppose major changes in America's Middle East policy. That is something of an achievement for a meeting that, officially at least, never took place.