How will Israel-Arab alliances be affected after the war in Gaza? - opinion
| Published date | 21 March 2024 |
| Author | ARIELLE VOGEL VALK |
| Publication title | Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel) |
Saudi Arabia was subsequently placed at the top of its wish list. However, Israel's ongoing war with Hamas threatens these regional efforts. The devastation it inflicts on Gaza leaves Israel diplomatically isolated from its old, new, and potential Arab partners, but this appears to be temporary.
Both Israel and the Gaza Strip are governed by their most extreme leadership to date, each having contributed to the clash.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's government was formed amidst his ongoing corruption trial, joining forces with far-Right political parties that granted him a majority while catapulting religious and ultra-nationalist opinions to the forefront of politics.
Their controversial judicial reform plans garnered massive opposition and public protests, threatening to cripple Israel's democracy in 2023.
Combined with ambitions of expanding West Bank settlements and revising the status quo on the Temple Mount, tensions with Palestinians soared. A normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia developing under US patronage set off the last alarm. Amid socio-political instabilities, Hamas saw an opportunity to strike.
Hamas, a descendant of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and a proscribed terrorist organization by most Western countries has been governing the Gaza Strip since 2007. Its 1988 founding charter explicitly calls for the annihilation of Israel and Jews, and its massacre on October 7 was deemed by its leadership the beginning of a permanent state of war on all of Israel's borders.
Egypt and Jordan declared that the displacement of Palestinians is a red line for maintaining relations with Israel, due to both ideological support for intact Palestinian territories and pragmatic reasons.
Jihadist terrorism in the Sinai still concerns Cairo, refusing to take in large numbers from Gaza, fearing an inflow of Hamas. Combating terrorism and containing Hamas has been a joint venture between Egypt and Israel.
The benefits of maintaining ties with Israel
Maintaining ties with Israel has also made Egypt a top recipient of US military aid. Protecting this status, Cairo draws itself closer to Washington – Israel's strongest ally – by playing a proactive role in hostage negotiations, ceasefires, and humanitarian engagement in Gaza. After subsequent...
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