Saudi Ties with Israel and Pakistan perspective

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly flew to Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a few weeks ago. An unannounced secret meeting was held in Neom, with a little help from Americans. Just as Israel has normalizes its relations with UAE and Bahrain, it seems like Saudi Arabia and Israel are also planning to normalize ties which were never thought to get settled in the past. But this is not confirmed yet as things are under the cover. Arabs are now more concentrating on power and are focused on improving their relations with the West. 

The Arab conflict with Israel includes the political tension, military conflicts and disputes between Israel and Arab countries. The support of the Arab League member countries for the Palestinians is the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Zionism and Arab Nationalism rise towards the end of the 19th century. And these were attributed to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The Future, 2023: On the other hand, Arabs and West countries are now in a state of unrest as the future is going to change due to the historical agreements. And the most important of them is the treaty of Lausanne, 1923. 

Saudi Arabia’s recent enemy in the world is Turkey. 100 years of Lausanne agreement are going to complete and Turkey will get freedom in real meaning in 2023. This will make huge regional transformations and the Modern demarcation of Turkey will be insignificant. The holy states of Makkah and Madinah will be under the rule of Turkey. These both states were the part of the Ottoman Empire before World War 1 and after the treaty of Lausanne, Makkah and Madinah were gone under the power of Arabs. Now, Arabs are being insecure due to the ending of the treaty of Lausanne. This ending will give Turkey complete right over Makkah and Madinah and will result in shifting of Muslim’s respect from Saudi’s to Turks. Saudi’s are known as the guardians of the Holy states and have huge respect in the hearts of Muslims due to this. But if they lose control over Makkah and Madinah, this will result in unimaginable loss of respect from the hearts of Muslims. Also, their alliance with Israel and West will ignite this process. Turkey will be free to drill its resources and will have its control over Bosporus strait that connects the Aegean Sea and the black sea after the end of the Lausanne agreement.

Saudi ties with Israel: Palestine was also the part of the Ottoman Empire. But now, the Jewish community declare Israel as a free state and are continuously trying to get rule over the West Bank and Gaza completely. Israel has been recognized by the two main Arab countries, UAE and Bahrain. The agreements signed between Israel, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formalizes relationships already in place. These two countries could not have gone ahead without the tacit approval of Saudi Arabia. The nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict has shifted over the years from the large scale, regional Arab Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For years, many Arab countries grouped together against Israel, but some countries are rethinking that. Saudi Arabia was the first Arab state to put normalization with Israel on the table. Normalization is basically a diplomatic speak for two countries having some kind of formal relationships. This includes things like trade deals, setting up embassies, and direct flights. The Gulf countries having relations with Israel was unthinkable in the past. Saudi Arabia has stood by the Palestinians particularly King Salman. He once said, “Palestinian’s cause is the Arab world’s most important cause.” But now his son, Mohammad bin Salman has different ideas. The old guard is anti Israel, is pro-Palestinian but now there is a new generation, the new guard. They are not so attached to the Palestinian identity. So, it will become more difficult for Palestinians to get their rights for a peaceful life. Palestinians are saying that Israel has been rewarded for conceding nothing. Palestine citizens say, “We consider it a stab in the back of our people.” “Bring down the collaborations.” “No to normalization!” 

So why this is happening? Both countries still have no official diplomatic relations. But now behind the scenes, diplomatic and intelligence cooperation are expected between both countries. In past years, there were many incidents when Saudi Arabia stood against Israel but now the views are changing. And this can be mainly for developing better trade options, intelligence exchange, allowing direct flights, for weapons, and remaining in power. Also, their common interest in opposing Iran, and it was discussed in a meeting at the Washington office of the Council on Foreign Relations, between Anwar Eshki which was a retired major general in Saudi armed forces and Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In November 2017, Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot confirmed Israeli willingness “to exchange experiences with Arab countries and exchange intelligence to confront Iran” and also said that there is complete agreement on certain matters between us and Saudi Arabia. In August 2020, Mossads’s chief Yossi Cohen had openly names Turkey as a new threat for the peace of the region. Turkish expansionism under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been viewed as a new danger for the Middle East since 2018, due to conflicts with Turkey in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and Libya. 

So where does the Muslim Nuclear Power Stands in all this? Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia are not on the same page as they were in the past. Pakistan’s support and growing ties with Iran is the major cause of it, as the world is being divided in two major groups Israel, Arab States, Indians and USA in one and Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, china and Russian in the other. Indian influence in arab is also increasing day by day to counter Pakistan. Also, Saudi Arabia’s expected ties with Israel and Pakistan’s statement to be on the side of the Palestinians is also pulling their relations towards a dead end. But Pakistan has to manage its economy and play strategically in creating relations with Gulf countries, OIC, GCC and other organizations operating in the Muslim world. A strong economy and strong diplomatic relations will be beneficial in many ways. Pakistan should not support Israel as Prime Minister Imran Khan has clearly announced that we are not going to normalize relations with Israel until the issue of Palestinians is not going to resolve. Pakistan’s foreign policy success is mainly dependent on economic development and advancement.