A new Middle East war in the making?
Despite protests against Trump´s new Middle East plan, the relations of the anti-Iran front are becoming closer. An indicator for this is the latest development in the Israeli-Saudi relations:
„Israeli delegation visits Saudi Arabia for first time
A high-ranking Israeli delegation from an umbrella US Jewish group has visited Saudi Arabia this week, a sign of increasing warmness between Tel Aviv and Riyadh as the two sides look to forge closer informal ties and expedite normalization efforts.
Israel’s English-language broadsheet newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported on Friday that members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations visited Saudi Arabia this week, a move believed to be the first official visit to the kingdom by an American Jewish organization since the Oslo peace process in 1993.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency said the visit, which took place from Monday to Thursday, included meetings with senior Saudi officials as well as with Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Karim bin Abdulaziz al-Issa, the secretary general of the Muslim World League.
Issa is regarded as a close associate of Saudi Crown, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The New York-based news agency said the focus of the talks between the Conference constituents and Saudi officials was on countering terrorism and the instability in the Middle East region.
The Conference’s leadership, executive vice president Malcolm Hoenlein, and CEO William Daroff, are expected to have been present during the visit.
Saudi Arabia has expanded secret ties with Israel under the crown prince, the son of King Salman, who is viewed by many as the Kingdom’s de facto ruler. The young prince has made it clear that he and the Israelis stand on the same front to counter Iran and its growing influence in the Middle East.
Back in 2018, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for a commercial flight to Israel with the start of a new Air India route between India and Israel, although El Al Israel Airlines might not use Saudi airspace for eastward flights.
Critics say Saudi Arabia’s flirtation with Israel would undermine global efforts to isolate Tel Aviv and affect the Palestinian cause in general. They say Riyadh has gone too far in its cooperation with the Israelis as a way of deterring Iran as an influential player in the region.
Israel has full diplomatic relations with only two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, but the latest reports suggest the regime is working behind the scenes to establish formal contacts with Persian Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.“
At the same time, the strategy of the Israeli Defense Forces(IDF) and the Israeli government faces a paradigmatic shift to a victory strategy that was originally designed by the Middle East Forum- chief and former Islam adviser of the Bush jr. Administration, Daniel Pipes. Israel had to achieve a final military victory against its opponents that they give up any hope and surrender totally to Israel´s strategic interests.
„The IDF Implements MEF’s Victory Concept
News from the Middle East Forum
February 14, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/60436/the-idf-implements-mef-victory-concept
PHILADELPHIA – February 14, 2020 – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) just unveiled a new work-plan inspired by the Middle East Forum’s Israel Victory Project.
The five-year „Momentum“ plan is designed to increase the IDF’s capabilities sevenfold. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett explains that it „puts the principle of victory back at the top of the list of priorities.“
The IDF’s paradigm-shift is the culmination of over three years‘ work in Israel. MEF has inspired a non-partisan national movement through intensive contacts with senior policy-makers; the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus; hosting conferences; hundreds of media engagements; public campaigns; and grassroots outreach.
This development builds on then-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who noted that, „Victory is … the most important value“ in choosing Israel’s next army chief.
He went on to appoint Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi who, in his first speech as IDF chief-of-staff in February 2019 announced that „Victory and mission focus are our main values.“ Gen. Kohavi then proceeded to arrange a „Victory Seminar“ to ascertain how Israel can „win a clear, decisive, irrefutable victory in the next war it fights.“
Messrs. Bennett and Liberman have praised our Israel Victory concept in private meetings, as have other senior officials across Israel’s ideological spectrum.
On February 4, 2020, in an exclusive interview with MEF director Gregg Roman on MEF Radio, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus previewed the new IDF plan: „The Chief of Staff … has been very clear that we have to re-evaluate and rethink how victory is achieved against terrorist organizations, and to be very clear and precise, how to achieve this.“
_ _ _ _ _
The Forum’s Israel Victory Project (IVP) started with an original idea that MEF president Daniel Pipes has developed since 1999, followed by a campaign launched in 2017. The idea is simple: Conflicts end only when one side is defeated, when it gives up its war goals, when its will to fight on collapses. This basic truth should also apply in the Israeli-Palestinian arenas. First victory, then peace.
„We have worked hard to reach this point,“ said Pipes. „But our work continues and will do so until the happy day when Jews living in Hebron have no more need for security than Arabs living in Nazareth.“
_ _ _ _ _
The Middle East Forum promotes American interests in the region and protects Western civilization from Islamism. It does so through a unique combination of original ideas, focused activism, and the funding of allies.
For immediate release
For more
information, contact:
Gregg Roman
Roman@MEForum.org
+1 (215) 546
5406 ext. 104“
The new IDF paradigma shift comes with Trump’s pro-Israeli New Middle East Plan. Is a new Gaza war or new Hisbollah-Lebanon war in the making with the goal of a final victory and total surrender? IDF“sevenfold“, victory. Are these war preparations and is this only directed against Palestinian terrorist organizations like Hamas or Hezbollah? Or may this also include military strikes against Iran and Syria?