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Israel also fights America’s battle

The soaring threat of Islamic terrorism to the US mainland, pro-US Arab regimes, Europe, India, Asia, Africa and Australia has reaffirmed Israel’s role as the moral and military outpost of the US in the Middle East.

Israel’s strategic role has gained in importance against the backdrop of the US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, the drastic cuts in the US defense budget, the resulting erosion of the US posture of deterrence, the collapse of the European power projection, the raging tectonic Arab Tsunami, the intensified anti-US sentiments on the Arab Street and the unprecedented Islamic threats to vital US economic and national security interests.

In 2014, Israel is confronting the Palestinian Authority and Hamas terrorism. The latter is a subsidiary of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood, which has terrorized pro-US Arab regimes in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt, amplifying the five pillar banner: “Allah is our objective; the Qur’an is the Constitution; the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; death for the sake of Allah is our wish.”

These Arab countries realized that Israel was fighting their battle during the recent war in Gaza, overtly criticizing Hamas and subtly supporting Israel. According to the Yemen Times: “The Saudi King, Abdullah, attacked unnamed ‘traitor terrorists,’ who sully the name of Islam… implying that he viewed Hamas as much of a terrorist group as the Islamic State…. The so-called ‘Arab moderates’ have become even more blatant in their US-Israel alignment…. with a vulgar anti-Palestinian position.” According to Dr. Mira Tzoreff of the Dayan Center for Middle East Studies, “The sympathetic opinions voiced in Egypt’s state-run media regarding Israel’s posture towards Hamas – even before the 2014 war in Gaza – were unprecedented….. President Sisi believes that Hamas was responsible for attacks on Egyptian military and security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula….” The Saudi daily, Al Arabiya, reported that hundreds of Egyptian soldiers were killed, in Sinai, by Ansar Beit al Maqdis’ Jihadist terrorists – associated with ISIS, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood – since June, 2014. CNN claims that Israel is fighting a proxy war against Hamas, advancing the homeland security interests of Jordan and the Gulf States.

In 2014, the eyes of the pro-US Arab regimes are upon Israel and its war on Islamic terrorism!

In 2014, Israel is facing Hamas, one of the numerous offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been the most productive incubator of Islamic terror organizations, such as Al Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, al Nusr’a, Ahrar al-Sham, Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Ansar a-Shari’a, Taliban, Nigeria’s Boko Haram, etc. These terror organizations strive to establish an Islamic Middle East empire, as a prelude to global domination, bringing the US and the Western World to social, political and military submission, governed by the laws of Islam.

Irrespective of the Palestinian issue, Israel (the “Little Satan”) has been a major obstacle to megalomaniacal Islamic imperialism, clipping the wings of terrorism, thus enhancing the homeland security of pro-US Arab regimes, and according the US (the “Big Satan”) a reliable beachhead in the economically and militarily critical Middle East.

In 2014, US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq benefit from the battle experience of Israel, in general, and counter-terrorism and urban warfare, in particular. In 2007, Israel demolished a Syrian-Iranian-North Korean nuclear reactor. In 1982, Israel destroyed twenty Syrian-operated, advanced Soviet surface-to-air missile batteries, which were deployed throughout the world and deemed impregnable by the US. Israel’s unique battle tactics were promptly shared with the US Air Force, enhancing the US military edge over Moscow. In 1981, Israel devastated Iraq’s nuclear reactor, sparing the US a nuclear confrontation with Iraq in 1991. On July 4, 1976, Israel’s Entebbe hostage-rescue operation was a turning point in the battle against Islamic terrorism, inspiring Western democracies and dealing a blow to America’s enemies and adversaries. In 1973, in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War against Soviet-aligned Egypt and Syria, Israel shared with the US its battle experience, as well as captured Soviet military systems, which provided the US military command and defense industries with a global competitive edge. In 1970, Israel’s military forced pro-Soviet Syria to roll back its invasion of pro-US Jordan, which aimed at toppling the Hashemite regime, surging into Saudi Arabia, according the USSR a dramatic triumph and dealing the US an unprecedented economic and national security blow. In 1967, Israel obliterated the military forces of Syria and Egypt, aborting an attempt by the pro-Soviet Egyptian President, Nasser, to bring down pro-US Persian Gulf regimes, control the supply and price of oil, dominate the Arab World and provide Moscow with an historical victory. In November, 1952, following Israel’s performance during the 1948-49 War of Independence, General Omar Bradley, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, proposed to expand strategic cooperation with Israel, only to be rebuffed by the Department of State, which was Arab-oriented, denying the US a more effective outpost in the Middle East.

In 2014, the US faces a most vicious Islamic terrorist threat, which benefits from hundreds of sleeper cells on the US mainland, is not amenable to peaceful coexistence and is not driven by the Palestinian issue, but by a 14-century-old intolerant violent Islamic ideology. It behooves the US to learn from history by avoiding, rather than repeating, past mistakes; enhancing – rather than eroding – the mutually-beneficial, win-win ties with its most stable, reliable, effective, experienced, democratic, unconditional ally, Israel.




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The Abraham Accords – the US, Arab interests and Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan believe that the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the enhancement of Israel-Saudi defense and commercial cooperation and the conclusion of an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace accord are preconditioned upon major Israeli concessions to the Palestinian Authority.

Is such a belief consistent with Middle East reality?

Arab interests

*The signing of the Abraham Accords, and the role played by Saudi Arabia as a critical engine of the accords, were driven by the national security, economic and diplomatic interests of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and the Sudan.

*The Arab interest in peace accords with Israel was not triggered by the realization that the Jewish State was genuinely seeking peaceful-coexistence, nor by a departure from the fundamental tenets of Islam. It was motivated by the assessment that critical concerns of the respective Arab countries would be effectively-served by Israel’s advanced military (Qualitative Military Edge), technological and diplomatic capabilities in the face of mutual and lethal enemies, such as Iran’s Ayatollahs and Muslim Brotherhood terrorism.

*Saudi Arabia and the six Arab peace partners of Israel (including Egypt and Jordan) are aware that the Middle East resembles a volcano, which occasionally releases explosive lava – domestically and/or regionally – in an unpredictable manner, as evidenced by the 1,400-year-old stormy intra-Arab/Muslim relations, and recently demonstrated by the Arab Tsunami, which erupted in 2011 and still rages.

They wish to minimize the impact of rogue regimes, and therefore are apprehensive about the nature of the proposed Palestinian state, in view of the rogue Palestinian inter-Arab track record, which has transformed Palestinians into an intra-Arab role model of subversion, terrorism, treachery and ingratitude.

*They are anxious about the erosion of the US posture of deterrence, which is their most critical component of national security, and alarmed about the 43-year-old US diplomatic option toward Iran’s Ayatollahs, which has bolstered the Ayatollahs’ terroristic, drug trafficking and ballistic capabilities. They are also concerned about the US’ embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the largest Sunni terrorist entity with religious, educational, welfare and political branches. And, they are aware of the ineffectiveness of NATO (No Action Talk Only?), the European vacillation, and the vulnerability of all other Arab countries.

Israel’s role

*Saudi Arabia and the Arab partners to peace accords with Israel feel the machetes of the Ayatollahs and the Moslem Brotherhood at their throats. They consider Israel as the most reliable “life insurance agent” in the region.  They view Israel as the most effective US force-multiplier in the Middle East, and appreciate Israel’s proven posture of deterrence; flexing its military muscles against Iran’s Ayatollahs in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran itself and against Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorism. They respect Israel’s unique counter-terrorism intelligence and training capabilities, and its game-changing military and counter-terrorism battle tactics and technologies.

*The Arab view of Israel as a reliable partner on “a rainy day” has been bolstered by Israel’s willingness to defy US pressure, when it comes to Israel’s most critical national security and historic credos (e.g., Iran, Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria).  In addition, Saudi Arabia and Israel’s peace-partners aim to leverage Israel’s good-standing among most Americans – and therefore among most Senators and House Representatives – as a venue to enhance their military, commercial and diplomatic ties with the US.

*Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are preoccupied with the challenge of economic diversification, realizing that they are overly-reliant on oil and natural gas, which are exposed to price-volatility, depletion and could be replaced by emerging cleaner and more cost-effective energy.

Thus, they consider Israel’s ground-breaking technologies as a most effective vehicle to diversify their economy, create more jobs in non-energy sectors, and establish a base for alternative sources of national income, while bolstering homeland and national security.

*The Abraham Accords – as well as Israel’s peace accords with Egypt and Jordan – and the unprecedented expansion of defense and commercial cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, demonstrate that critical Arab national security interests may supersede fundamental tenets of Islam, such as the 1,400-year-old rejection of any “infidel” sovereignty in “the abode of Islam.”  Moreover, critical national security interests may lead to a dramatic moderation of the (Arab) education system, which is the most authentic reflection of one’s vision and policies.

Thus, contrary to the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates has uprooted hate-education curriculum, replacing it with pro-Israel/Jewish curriculum.

Abraham Accords’ durability

*The success of the Abraham Accords was a result of avoiding the systematic mistakes committed by the US State Department. The latter has produced a litany of failed peace proposals, centered on the Palestinian issue, while the Abraham accords bypassed the Palestinian issue, avoiding a Palestinian veto, and focusing on Arab interests. Therefore, the durability of the Abraham Accords depends on the interests of the respective Arab countries, and not on the Palestinian issue, which is not a top priority for any Arab country.

*The durability of the Abraham Accords depends on the stability of the individual Arab countries and the Middle East at-large.

*The Abraham Accord have yielded initial and unprecedented signs of moderation, modernity and peaceful coexistence, which requires the US to support the respective pro-US Arab regimes, rather than pressuring them (e.g., Saudi Arabia and the UAE).

*However, one should not ignore the grave threats to the durability of the accords, posed by the volcanic nature of the unstable, highly-fragmented, unpredictable, violently intolerant, non-democratic and tenuous Middle East (as related to intra-Arab relations!).  These inherent threats would be dramatically alleviated by a resolute US support.

*A major threat to the Abraham Accord is the tenuous nature of most Arab regimes in the Middle East, which yields tenuous policies and tenuous accords. For example, in addition to the Arab Tsunami of 2010 (which is still raging on the Arab Street), non-ballot regime-change occurred (with a dramatic change of policy) in Egypt (2013, 2012, 1952), Iran (1979, 1953), Iraq (2003, 1968, 1963-twice, 1958), Libya (2011, 1969), Yemen (a civil war since the ’90s, 1990, 1962), etc.

*Regional stability, the Abraham Accords and US interests would be undermined by the proposed Palestinian state west of the Jordan River (bearing in mind the intra-Arab Palestinian track record). It would topple the pro-US Hashemite regime east of the River; transforming Jordan into another platform of regional and global Islamic terrorism, similar to Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen; triggering a domino scenario, which would threaten every pro-US Arab oil-producing country in the Arabian Peninsula; yielding a robust tailwind to Iran’s Ayatollahs, Russia and China and a major headwind to the US.

*While Middle East reality defines policies and accords as variable components of national security, the topography and geography of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Golan Heights are fixed components of Israel’s minimal security requirements in the reality of the non-Western Middle East. Israel’s fixed components of national security have secured its survival, and have dramatically enhanced its posture of deterrence. They transformed the Jewish State into a unique force and dollar multiplier for the US.

*The more durable the Abraham Accords and the more robust Israel’s posture of deterrence, the more stable the pro-US Arab regimes and the Middle East at-large; the more deterred are anti-US rogue regimes; the less potent are Middle Eastern epicenters of anti-US terrorism and drug trafficking; the more bolstered is the US global posture and the weaker is the posture of the US’ enemies and adversaries.

*Would the Arab regimes of the Abraham Accords precondition their critical ties with Israel upon Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, which they view as a rogue element? Would they sacrifice their national security and economic interests on the altar of the Palestinian issue? Would they cut off their nose to spite their face?

The fact that these Arab regimes concluded the Abraham Accords without preconditioning it upon Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, and that they limit their support of the Palestinians to talk, rather than walk, provides an answer to these three questions.

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