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Growing Arms Purchases by Arab Countries Challenge Israel

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Yahel Arnon and Yoel Guzansky - Growing conventional arms purchases by Arab countries represent a challenge for Israel. Advanced platforms reaching the Gulf states, in some cases, are more advanced than those possessed by Israel. Security cooperation between Israel and the Gulf states as well as with Egypt and Jordan is growing, and Israel has no wish to damage this. However, there is ongoing concern linked to the chronic instability of Middle East regimes. It is impossible to completely rule out a situation where the stability in one of the countries is undermined and its weapon systems fall into the wrong hands, as happened in the case of Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. The possibility that the weapons they are now acquiring will be turned on Israel at some time in the future, even if not by them, cannot be ignored. Israel must insist that the IDF's qualitative military edge will be guaranteed, even vis-a-vis regimes that are, for the moment, friendly. Yahel Arnon is a senior figure within Israel's intelligence community. Dr. Yoel Guzansky is a senior researcher at INSS.
2018-07-11 00:00:00
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