Jack Caravelli*
Dore Gold, the Director General of Israel’s foreign ministry and a highly experienced diplomat, in late December gave the ministry’s first ever interview to a Saudi media outlet.
Speaking to the Saudi-owned online newspaper Elaph, Gold emphasized the common interests Israel and Saudi Arabia have in blunting threats posed by Iran and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
Dore Gold gave the first ever interview by Israel's foreign ministry to the Saudi media.
The politics of the Middle East are shifting with forces within and outside the region contributing. Elaph portrayed the interview in positive tones, using the headline, “Israel: Iran creating anarchy in order to make itself as a solution.” The subhead reads, “Dore Gold tells Elaph that ISIS is a joint threat.”
Gold, who assumed his current responsibilities in May, is a long-time associate and confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a relationship which with the fact of the unprecedented interview suggests Gold was speaking as much for the prime minister as himself.
During the interview Gold touched on his government’s views of the region’s security challenges and opportunities:
Iran seeks to gain a foothold in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza to threaten Israel from the south, north and east.
Israel is not involved in the Syria conflict but has red lines that could not be crossed. Gold offered as a hypothetical example Russia’s transfer of missiles from Syria depots to Hizbullah, the Syrian terrorist proxy.
Iran seeks to foment and promote regional chaos and recognizes that the recently signed Joint Comprehensive Plan of action, the nuclear agreement with major nations, will result, among other benefits, in reduced international pressure and isolation on other crisis nodes such as Iran.s support for terrorism.
Relations between Egypt and Israel, badly strained during the brief tenure of pro-Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, are greatly improved.
Israel has common interests with Saudi Arabia and those can form the basis of enhanced Israel-Arab cooperation, including making agreements. Gold underscored this point by remarking, “History teaches that when Israel signs a peace treaty with the Arabs, Israel honors the treaty forever.”
In one respect, Gold’s overarching message of common interests between his government and parts of the Arab world reflect a realistic assessment of the region’s problems. The focused appeal to the Saudis also reflects Israel’s understanding of Riyadh’s mounting security problems, including ISIL’s calls for attacks in Saudi Arabia and Iran’s support to the Houthis in Yemen on Saudi Arabia’s southern flank.
It is likely Gold’s interview was intended as a trial balloon, particularly his discussion of Israeli interest in some type of formal agreement with Saudi Arabia.
It is unclear how or if the Saudis will respond to Gold’s diplomatic overture and may await, for example, indications from Netanyahu or another senior Israeli official regarding the scope of enhanced cooperation that Israel might deem possible.
On another level, Gold’s outreach to the Saudis is a reflection of the growing Israeli sense of isolation from its previous main protector, the United States. U.S.-Israeli cooperation on military and intelligence issues remains strong but there is a deep underlying tension in the relationship.
Most important, at the senior political level there has been and remains significant mutual suspicion that has persisted throughout the Obama administration. From his earliest days in office, President Barack Obama failed to establish a productive working relationship with Netanyahu.
Their personal animosity, exacerbated by sharp policy differences, benefits neither nation but for Israel, a small nation in the middle of hostile forces, finding reliable partners may have become a critical security imperative as the Gold interview indicates.
There will be nothing simple about possible enhanced Israel-Saudi cooperation. For example, at the end of December, the senior Saudi cleric, Sheikh Abdulaziz al Sheikh, gave an interview claiming that “ISIL is part of the Israeli army.”
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