An Israeli writer has argued that Tel Aviv is seeking to exploit what she described as Saudi Arabia’s current “predicament”, suggesting that Washington has effectively left the field open to Israel in the hope that expanding military cooperation could eventually lead Riyadh towards normalisation.
Writing in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli journalist Smadar Perry said it was easy to imagine Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir using the five-hour flight from Ben Gurion Airport to Germany to review updated files on his counterparts from seven Arab countries, adding that his counterparts likely did the same.
A Significant Saudi-Israeli Meeting
“Officially, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar do not have formal relations with Israel, but beneath the surface, relations exist,” Perry wrote.
She described the most interesting encounter as the meeting between Zamir and Saudi Chief of Staff Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili, who has held his position since 2018, several years before Zamir assumed his current role.
According to Perry, no details were leaked from the meeting and none of the military chiefs publicly discussed its substance. US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper was the only official to reveal that the unusual meeting had taken place.
Because of the secrecy surrounding it, Perry said it remains unclear exactly how long the meeting lasted, while the arrangements were reportedly coordinated down to the smallest details.
Perry also noted that Zamir is expected to remain in his position until after Israel’s elections, predicting that his term could be extended by another year until the completion of his service.
She also drew attention to Qatar’s participation, noting that Washington invited Doha despite what she described as its involvement within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political surroundings.
Oman, meanwhile, did not attend because of what Perry described as its own stalled mediation role involving Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Perry claimed that US President Donald Trump had twice rejected requests from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for military cooperation.
She also said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had welcomed the Saudi crown prince warmly but carefully rejected a request to send Egyptian military forces to fight the Houthis.
According to Perry, bin Salman had attempted to propose an arrangement under which Saudi Arabia would provide hundreds of millions of dollars, potentially billions, in exchange for Egypt deploying military forces against the Houthis.
An “Alternative Route”
Perry claimed that Israeli assistance to Saudi Arabia has begun taking shape through US Central Command, primarily in the form of intelligence cooperation.
She said the cooperation was not limited to protecting US military bases or Saudi Aramco’s major oil pipeline infrastructure, but also included assistance in developing an alternative route for Saudi oil exports that would bypass both the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the current situation, the Saudi predicament should be exploited after the United States withdrew from the circle of assistance,” Perry wrote.
She argued that Washington had left the field to Israel in the hope that military cooperation would broaden the relationship and potentially lead Saudi Arabia towards some form of participation in the Abraham Accords normalisation framework.
Regarding Jordan, Perry said military and intelligence relations with Israel remain active despite having undergone what she described as negative changes.
She said the meeting held at a resort in Germany, whose contents remain largely undisclosed, was intended to promote different forms of cooperation and provide a venue for consultations among countries opposed to Iran.
According to Perry, the gathering sought to strengthen ties between the militaries, security agencies and intelligence services of the participating states.
She concluded that cooperation between Israel and each of the Arab countries represented at the meeting was likely to expand.
The meeting was organised last week in Germany by US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper and brought together the Israeli military chief with the chiefs of staff of three Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
