Our Arab Brothers Have Stabbed Us In The Front And The Back

Hostility to Israel has been a defining feature of the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East since Israel’s creation in 1948. But now, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is eagerly promoting the idea that relations with key Arab states are “improving beyond imagination” regardless of the Palestinian issue.

Ties are indeed getting closer between Israel and five of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – none of which have formal relations with the Jewish state.

The reason is a shared hatred of Iran and a mutual fondness for Trump (and earlier a mutual distaste for Barack Obama). There is also a pragmatic recognition in Gulf capitals of the benefits of security, technological and economic links with Israel.

Israeli trade with the Gulf states is currently estimated to be worth $1bn a year, though no official statistics are available. The potential, is vast, in technology, especially cybersecurity, irrigation, medical supplies and the diamond industry, among others.

In spite of recent flashes of publicity, hard evidence of Israeli ties with the Gulf states is still rare. Normalisation of relations with Israel remains a dirty word for millions of Arabs, which is why autocratic Gulf leaders fear popular opposition to their new cosiness with Netanyahu.

Our Gulf Arab brothers have stabbed us in the front and the back, abandoning us politically while embracing Israel,

complained the Palestinian activist Kamel Hawwash.

Jamal al-Suwaidi, the founder of the government-backed Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research said:

The Palestinian cause is no longer at the forefront of Arabs’ interests, as it used to be for long decades; it has sharply lost priority in light of the challenges, threats and problems that face countries of the region.