With the Middle East ablaze, new opportunities have emerged for regional cooperation. In fact, partnerships have formed in the most unlikely of places, as Israel and some of its Arab neighbors have joined together to combat common enemies, such as ISIS and Iran.
Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has been viewed as an outcast by other countries in the Middle East. Over the years, this has led to several military confrontations. Despite these tensions, Israel managed to establish formal diplomatic ties with Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, and Turkey as well as a close political alliance with Iran prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Today, of its regional counterparts, only Egypt and Jordan maintain official diplomatic relations with Israel.
Recently, Israel has emerged as a strategic ally for Egypt and Jordan in the fight against ISIS and as an important partner for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the effort to counter Iran’s growing influence.
“We are together with Egypt and many other states in the Middle East and the world in the struggle against extreme Islamic terrorism,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center last year.
The emergence of an ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula has led to enhanced Israeli-Egyptian cooperation. Israel has permitted Egypt to bolster its troop numbers in the Sinai and deploy its air force near their shared border, two activities that were previously outlawed by the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979. Furthermore, several reports indicate that there has been increased intelligence sharing between Israel and Egypt and potential covert operations undertaken by Israel (with Egypt’s approval) to destroy terrorist cells in the Sinai.
ISIS advances in Syria and Iraq have also propelled tighter cooperation between Israel and Jordan. In July, Israel gifted Jordan 16 Cobra helicopters to help secure Jordan’s northern border. Last August, it was reported that Israeli and Jordanian air force pilots participated in a joint training exercise at a U.S. air base in Nevada. In December, Israel hosted a delegation of Jordanian air force pilots to further promote cooperation between the two countries. However, officials from both countries prefer to keep the discussion of such activities under wraps.
On the Iran front, Israel has boosted its relations with a number of Gulf States as part of the effort to curb the threat posed by Iran.
"Indirect secret cooperation vis-a-vis Iran is happening with these countries and there is the possibility to deepen it," said Haim Tomer, a former senior officer in the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency.
According to news reports, Saudi and Israeli officials have met at least five times since 2014, pushing cooperation between the two countries to an entirely new level. In June 2015, Anwar Eshki, a former Saudi general and ambassador to the U.S., and Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN and the current Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appeared on stage together at a Council on Foreign Relations event, where the two leaders revealed that Israel and Saudi Arabia have been covertly conducting diplomacy centered on the threat posed by Iran.
Other reports have alluded to Saudi Arabia granting Israel access to its air space, should Israel attempt a military operation against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Israel has also begun to cultivate relations with the United Arab Emirates. In November, it was reported that Israel was organizing its first official diplomatic office in the United Arab Emirates, which would be housed within the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an international organization based in Abu Dhabi. Through this office, Israel hopes to address the Iranian threat with the Gulf States, especially after the lifting of international sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program.
The Cipher Brief experts agree that strengthening ties between Israel and its neighbors is paramount for combatting ISIS and Iran. Former Senior Israeli official Avi Melamed said, “The Arab states need for stability is generating the creation of a quiet Israeli-Arab axis based upon shared long-term strategic interests.” Such increased regional cooperation could pave the way for new dynamics in the Middle East and may help extinguish some of the flames that have devastated the region.
Bennett Seftel is the Deputy Director of Editorial at The Cipher Brief.
