Israel rallies against Iran ahead of US President's visit; plans to augment

Manama: Israel and the Arab countries, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Morocco and Bahrain announced to increase in regional cooperation. Israel and the Arab countries have agreed to enhance cooperation in the economy, trade and security sectors. The announcement before US President Joe Biden visited the Middle East is noteworthy. Meanwhile, Iran is accusing the cooperation between Israel and the Arab countries are against it.

The ‘Negev Summit’ of Arab countries was held in Israel three months ago. The foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and the US Secretary of State participated in the conference. The conference, which brought Israel and the Arab countries, which had signed the Abraham Accords, on a single platform for the first time, was historic. During the conference, the foreign ministers of Israel and the Arab countries announced a new security alliance to stop Iran. The conference also underlined the need to come together on the economic front as the US influence in the region is declining.

On Monday, a special meeting of the delegation of the countries participating in the Negev Summit was held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. It was announced after the meeting in Manama that they are trying to build a new regional alliance based on the Negev Summit consensus. The agreement was formed during the meeting to increase cooperation on six issues: defence, clean energy, food and water security. Representatives from the United States also attended the meeting.

Over the past few days, the Middle East’s developments have attained momentum. The White House announced that US President Joe Biden would visit the Middle East in the third week of July. The US President will be visiting Israel and Saudi Arabia. Israeli media have claimed that President Biden will seek the support of Israel and Saudi Arabia for the newly started talks with Iran in Qatar.

Against this background, the moves that Israel and the Arab countries started last week have become noteworthy. Only last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. The Saudi Crown Prince also increased cooperation with the Arab allies. Israeli news channels have been pointing out that the meeting of the member countries of the Negev Summit, held in Bahrain, also focused on increasing cooperation. While the US is trying for a nuclear deal with Iran, there are indications that Israel and Saudi Arabia have begun building a front against it.