Jerusalem -

By deploying a radar system in several Arab countries, including Bahrain and the UAE, under the pretext of combating "Iranian threats", Israel is looking to build a new strategic alliance in the Middle East, by concluding a joint defense security agreement with the United States and several Arab countries in the Middle East and the region. Gulf.

Tel Aviv is seeking, through the radar system, to prepare the ground for concluding a defense security cooperation agreement with the Gulf states, in addition to Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, to confront what it calls "Iranian threats", according to what was stated in a joint initiative and the proposed draft agreement of the American Democratic and Republican parties.

After the lightning visit of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the UAE on Thursday evening, Israeli Channel 12 revealed that the Israeli security establishment had recently deployed a radar system in several countries in the Middle East and the Gulf.

The Israeli channel refrained from disclosing the time and date on which this system was published, the nature of its work, and the entity and cadres that supervise its operation, and there is talk about Israeli cadres.

It is estimated that the Israeli radar system was deployed after the attacks on sites in the UAE by the Houthi group, which reflects the vision of joint cooperation in confronting Iran's missile threats, and creating an early warning system, according to the Israeli channel.

Retreat and attend

The disclosure of the Israeli radar system carries with it many meanings and indications about the decline of the Egyptian role in the Gulf, which for many years created a state of "security balance" against the Iranian risks and threats in the region, in return for strengthening the Israeli security influence, which may be fraught with dangers, especially In light of the escalation of tension between Tel Aviv and Tehran.

The former coordinator of the Iran and Gulf file in the National Security Council in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Yoel Guzinsky explained that the UAE sees Iran as the main threat to its national security, and the threat includes damage to air traffic and attacks on strategic targets, the possibility of carrying out operations and even actual control of the emirate's territory.

In anticipation, Guzinsky says that the UAE has developed a variety of defensive responses, while at the same time seeking to maintain as sound economic and diplomatic relations with Iran as possible. “The UAE’s current rapprochement efforts with Iran aim to balance its image as an ally of Israel. Accordingly, the UAE must Israel has to take into account a possible change in the UAE’s position as a pillar on the front with Iran, especially if a new nuclear agreement is reached.”


Threats and interests

Regarding the tendency to strengthen the Israeli security presence in the Gulf, Yaron Schneider, a researcher at the National Security Research Center at Tel Aviv University, stressed that Israel and some Gulf countries have a clear security interest in undermining Iran’s influence in the Middle East, and in the Gulf specifically.

To achieve this, Schneider made it clear that Israel and the Gulf states are interested in imposing Iraqi sovereignty over the entire territory and borders of the country, and in curbing and dismantling the militias loyal to Iran in their lands, as the Iraqi arena is integrated into the conflict between Iran, Israel and neighboring countries, and therefore such an Israeli security presence would Contributes to escalation and exacerbates tension and risks in the Gulf region.

But, on the other hand, the Israeli researcher says that “the rapprochement that occurred in recent years between Israel and the Gulf states could harm its position in the Iraqi street. Because of the internal polarization and Iranian influence in Baghdad. Therefore, in the current reality, the lack of public normalization between Iraq and Israel It can help the Gulf states harness an Iraqi alliance that supports rapprochement with them on the basis of common interests that overlap with those of Israel."

Schneider concluded by saying that Egypt is a dominant and leading political, military and cultural power in the region, affecting a range of operations and balances of power in the Middle East, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and Cairo's foreign relations in the region with Arab countries, Iran and Turkey.

Iran and Egypt

For his part, the former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, explained that talking about any strategic alliance or Israeli presence in the Gulf carries with it hidden messages about Tel Aviv and the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the policy and approach of US President Joe Biden towards the Middle East region. Especially when it comes to confronting Iranian threats.

He believes that the deployment of Israeli radars in Arab and Gulf countries and the trend towards a joint defense security alliance in the Middle East is like a cordon around Iran and undermining its influence, through an alliance in which Israel considers a central link, and President Sisi can form a link with Baghdad.

The former Israeli ambassador to Cairo said, "Egypt has jumped to the forefront of cooperation with Israel and confrontation with Iran, while overnight Israel has become a major regional factor that everyone aspires to."

Despite this, Levannon believes that many questions remain open and without clear answers, perhaps the most prominent: How far will the alliance go within a common strategy?

To what extent will security and intelligence cooperation and coordination continue?

Will NATO lead to the deployment of joint military forces?


deterrence and decisiveness

In an allusion to answering questions about the Israeli security presence in the Gulf, Amos Harel, a military analyst for the newspaper "Haaretz" believes that the escalation of the confrontation between Israel and Iran will not lead to a resolution.

Harel pointed out that the successive reports in the Israeli media that attribute to Tel Aviv attacks and events in nuclear facilities and the assassination of officers in Tehran confirm that Bennett "is in dire need of positive headlines, at a time when the government coalition he leads is disintegrating."

The military analyst explained that Bennett is following the same line that his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, followed toward Tehran, especially "neglecting the military option against Iran, but there has been no real change in the Israeli security concept toward the Iranian nuclear program."

The same argument was adopted by Tal Lev Ram, a military analyst in the newspaper "Maariv", who confirmed that the Israeli security services believe that the escalation of offensive operations against Iran will be the result of assessments of the situation and not because of a policy change, as Prime Minister Bennett said.

Lev Ram pointed to the loudness of voices in the Israeli military establishment calling for a change of policy towards Iran, especially since Tel Aviv is the only one that might use military force against Tehran, which means that there will be no country or ally that will share military attacks on it.

In any case, military analyst Lev Ram says that "an Israeli military option to attack nuclear facilities is not currently on the agenda at this stage, and it is also not clear whether Israel can carry out such a step independently and alone in the future."