Alwaght- On the eve of the high-profile visit of the US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia and the meeting that is expected to gather him and the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council members plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan, the regional diplomatic visits and secret meetings from the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa indicate preparations for developments that would follow the visit.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's regional tour of Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, revelation of secret talks between bin Salman and Israeli security and intelligence officials in recent days, Jordan's King Abdullah II's surprise visit to the UAE, the important visit to Jordan of Israeli national security advisor after months of frayed ties between two sides due to the intensified Israeli aggression on holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in recent months, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad's visit to Egypt for the first time since the anti-Doha siege in 2017, and last week's meeting of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt with the presence of Bahraini and Jordanian kings, and the revelations by the SaudiLeaks website about more than five secret meetings by Saudi Arabia with others all indicate that Arab leaders are preparing for a new era after Biden's visit.
While since a while ago the US media, citing American officials, have been talking about normalization and energy as the main cases of Biden's regional visit, and the US ambassador to the Israeli regime Thomas Nides on Thursday told Israel Hayom newspaper about pushing the American regional allies to creation of a "regional security framework" during Biden's visit, recent remarks by the Jordanian king about the need for formation of "Middle East NATO" are expressive of links between these diplomatic visits and making an Arab-Israeli coalition against Axis of Resistance, a regional alliance led by Iran and including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine.
Israel, the US, and several Persian Gulf states drafted a document to establish a "regional strategic alliance" in the region three years before the 2020 normalization agreement and now efforts to form such a coalition also appear to be under way by Biden, reported the official Israeli television network Kan.
Here are the key goals of the coalition: Making grounds to guard the US interests in the Persian Gulf through transfer of the American security and military commitments to the allies as Washington finds it unavoidable to exit from the region, countering the growing Axis of Resistance power and influence and creating a security bukward for the Israeli regime with Arab costs, normalizing the illegitimate Israeli existence by creating a breathing space for Tel Aviv, also appeasing the Israelis and especially Saudis as Washington needs Riyadh to pump more oil in the next weeks and months to contain the exorbitant oil prices.
On the other hand, the Israelis, who over the past few years have been struggling under a security encirclement of the Resistance camp from Gaza to Syria and Lebanon and have seen their position shakier than before due to the effective strategic cooperation of the Resistance branches, can hope to share part of their security problems and military expenses with Arabs, manage their home and external crises by creating a political, economic, and geopolitical window, and even deal blows to the Iranian interests from the soil of Arab countries.
However, a dictated coalition with the Israeli regime under Arab NATO or any other name, firstly, would not work to save the Arab security interests as it would be largely heterogeneous and impractical. The unsuccessful military and intelligence partnership of the Saudis with the Israelis in Yemen war could not save the Saudi-led coalition from defeat. A new coalition cannot either.
Secondly, the formation of collective security mechanisms and security convergence requires a high level of coherence and understanding among the constituent members about security threats and ways to deal with them. In fact, the entry of countries into a defense treaty is the last step towards security convergence. That is, countries may have defined a level of security and military relationship among themselves, but entering into a defense treaty means that all members of the treaty have a common definition of threat and the type of threat they may face. At the same time, there is currently no full understanding among the Cooperation Council member states on the normalization of relations with Tel Aviv and the Israeli actions in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine and on Iran nuclear case.
Thirdly, this coalition bears vast risks to West Asia and specifically Persian Gulf security mainly because of simmering Iranian-Israeli confrontation. The certain issue is that the smaller regional states and regional security would be top to fall victim to this American-Israeli-Saudi warmongering.
The failed experience of NATO in Iraq and Afghanistan and the dangers the Western alliance brought to Ukraine and the European countries as a result of the American leadership over the military bloc teach a lesson: Similar fate of falling in the abyss of security, military, and territorial crises awaits Arab countries that accept the White House prescription to treat their foreign problems.
