Just below the surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the limits of cooperation

Black, Ian (2019) Just below the surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the limits of cooperation. LSE Middle East Centre Report. Middle East Centre, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

For over a decade Israel has been strengthening links with Arab Gulf states with which it has no diplomatic relations. Evidence of a convergence of Israel’s strategic views with those of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain has accumulated as all displayed hostility to Iran’s regional ambitions and to United States President Barack Obama’s policies during the Arab Spring. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has highlighted the Iranian threat and has felt much greater room for foreign policy manoeuvre given the continued marginalisation of the Palestinians. Netanyahu, who opposes an independent Palestinian state, has been greatly encouraged by the policies of US President Donald Trump. Long-standing Israeli security and commercial ties with the Gulf, already becoming more visible, look set to develop further, though overt military cooperation is improbable. Geopolitical and generational changes have made their mark among Gulf elites but the rivalry with Iran as well as domestic and pan-Arab public opinion will constrain any normalisation of Saudi and allied relations with Israel, assuming there is no progress towards an acceptable resolution of the Palestinian issue. None seems likely for the foreseeable future.

Item Type:	Monograph (Report)
Additional Information:	© 2019 London School of Economics and Political Science
Divisions:	Middle East Centre
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited:	21 Mar 2019 10:09
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2024 04:54
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/100313

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