Guardian of the Gulf
For the Gulf States and the Saudis, a common threat means that Israel is becoming part of the solution instead of playing its old role as the core of the problem.
The parade of visitors to the Arab Gulf States (note that this term is being used because the Arabs are insulted when “their” gulf is called “Persian”) in recent weeks is quite remarkable: The Prime Minister, two Cabinet ministers – Miri Regev and Yisrael Katz – the head of Israel’s Mossad and a Judo delegation. The Israeli flag was flown at a judo competition in Abu Dhabi, the Israeli national anthem was played there twice and the Israeli Culture Minister sang “the Jewish soul yearns…to be a free nation in our land…” while wiping away tears of emotion. The skies, it should be noted, did not fall down. And to top it all off, their host took them to visit the Sheikh Zaid Mosque – and all of the above happened in the space of one month.
The question that arises of its own is does this signal something new? Is this a real change? A strategic earthquake? Or is it simply that what was going on behind the scenes has been revealed all of a sudden. It is worth remembering as well, though, that while Israelis have visited the Gulf, there has been no public reciprocal visit to Israel of anyone from the Gulf States.
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