Well-informed experts have found no evidence that Saudi Arabia supported Israel in the Iranian attack.
Did Saudi Arabia shoot down Iranian drones and missiles or share intelligence about an Iranian counterattack with the US or Israel? The Israeli and American media have been saying this, while the Saudi media has strongly denied it.
No Arab country is currently interested in being included among Israel's supporters.
A “war of words” – this is not a new phenomenon in the Middle East conflict, explains Joost Hilderman, program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the independent think tank International Crisis Group. There is no evidence that Saudi Arabia is actively involved in Israel's defense.
“No Arab country is currently interested in being counted among Israel's supporters,” Hilderman said. Because they have to fear attacks from Iran. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is not interested in being included in Israel's camp, as the kingdom was buried with Iran a year ago.
According to Hilderman, the Arab population is fiercely critical of Israel's war in Gaza. An alliance with Israel is also dangerous domestically for the Saudi royal family. Instead, Hilderman suspects that Israel and the US are exaggerating the matter – to give the impression that there is a large anti-Iranian coalition in the Middle East.
Normalizing relations with Israel is almost impossible in the current environment.
All of this is linked to a long-standing effort by the US and Israel to normalize relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. But after the Gaza war, this goal is far from over. Normalizing relations with Israel is practically impossible in the current environment.
“Misinformation”
Giorgio Cafiero, head of the Gulf State Analytics think tank in Washington, firmly believes that Israel is trying to counter this with targeted disinformation. The Jerusalem Post relied on an ominous website for a headline two days ago that Saudi Arabia had helped defend Israel against Iran.
The Saudi Media Authority immediately denied that it was the official website of the Saudi royal family. This site contains political views that represent only a highly distorted representation of credible Saudi foreign policy.
To me, the denial from Riyadh means that no drones have violated Saudi airspace, so no intervention is necessary.
So the portrayal of Saudi Arabia seems more plausible to the Kafiro than the Israeli portrayal. At the same time, the kingdom has always communicated when intercepting drones from Houthi areas in Saudi airspace: “Riyadh's refusal to defend itself against Iranian drones last Saturday means that no drones violated Saudi airspace and therefore did not interfere.” to become.”
Arab strict law
Given the tension between Israel and Iran, experts say Arab countries have to walk a very delicate tightrope. Even self-defense can be interpreted as a sign of cooperation with the enemy.
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