The secret alliance between two of the Middle East's most powerful rivals
In short: While they publicly maintain a stance of mutual non-recognition, Israel and Saudi Arabia have shared a clandestine security partnership for decades. From coordinating intelligence to facilitating military logistics, their covert cooperation highlights a pragmatic reality where shared threats often outweigh public ideological differences.
The relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is defined by a stark contrast between public rhetoric and private cooperation. Since the early 1960s, the two nations have worked behind the scenes to counter mutual enemies. This history of clandestine ties includes coordinated intelligence efforts and the delivery of weapons and expertise to Royalist forces in Yemen during the 1960s. Even as Saudi Arabia publicly demands a two-state solution as a prerequisite for normalization, it has historically tolerated and even supported the development of diplomatic and military ties between other Arab nations and Israel. The mechanics of this cooperation are diverse. Saudi Arabia has permitted direct flights from Tel Aviv to its own cities, such as Manama, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, to pass over its territory. Furthermore, reports suggest that Saudi cooperation may have played a role in the 1981 Israeli strike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor, as the flight path crossed Saudi airspace. This pragmatic approach is often driven by the shared threat posed by Iran and its regional allies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis. However, normalization remains stalled by significant domestic and regional constraints. The Saudi clerical establishment remains a staunch proponent of Palestinian rights, and the kingdom's role as the home of Mecca and Medina creates internal pressure to maintain a firm stance on East Jerusalem. While the kingdom has allowed its neighbors, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, to normalize relations with Israel in 2020, Riyadh remains cautious. For Israel, the goal is to end its isolation in the Islamic world; for Saudi Arabia, the goal is to secure regional stability without sacrificing its standing among the Muslim faithful.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How to understand Israel and Saudi Arabia’s secretive relationship | Brookings
- Also: Israel–Saudi Arabia relations
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