|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://jcfa.org/israel-can-rescue-mbs-from-the-iranian-trap/
Israel Can Rescue Saudi Arabia from the Iranian Trap
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Oded Ailam - Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, requested a direct American strike against the Houthis after Houthi missiles and drones struck southern Saudi Arabia, setting oil facilities and infrastructure ablaze. At the same time, the Houthis made their most significant territorial gain in years as they advanced toward positions that control access to the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint between Yemen and Africa. Iran supplied weapons, advice, and guidance that helped facilitate the operation. The U.S. said it would increase defensive assistance but would not join the offensive campaign Riyadh had requested. In August, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed the "Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement," stipulating that an attack on any one of the three countries will be considered an attack on all of them. But in Riyadh's hour of need, Pakistan and Turkey offered little more than diplomatic statements. Israel can offer Saudi Arabia early warning, air defense, real-time intelligence, electronic warfare, launcher detection, protection of oil facilities and ports, security for shipping routes, and, if necessary, active participation in containing the Houthi threat. An alliance between the two countries would be based on an understanding that the same enemy threatens them with the same missiles from the same shores. The current crisis may be that rare moment when Israeli interests, Saudi anxiety, and the Iranian threat converge at a single point. Israel should now offer bin Salman what none of his allies can provide in full: intelligence built under fire, battle-tested defense systems, and the ability to reach the Yemeni coast. In return, it should demand an open, signed, and immediate Israeli-Saudi peace agreement. The writer, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, is a researcher at the Jerusalem Center.