Israel and Saudi Arabia's will-they-won't-they whiplash

• Published date: 06 December 2020
• Author: LAHAV HARKOV
• Date: 06 December 2020
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Like beloved sitcom characters, one week they seem to be getting closer and the next something – at times a stupid miscommunication – pulls them apart. But in this case, of course, the consequences are much more serious than Ross thinking he was "on a break" with Rachel on Friends.

The latest episode in the Israel-Saudi drama played out on Sunday at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Manama Dialogue in Bahrain's capital. The main players were Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief and ambassador to the US and UK, while Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani played host.

The fact that Ashkenazi was participating in a conference in Manama – even if by video link – was noteworthy; the fact that he was on the same panel as a Saudi prince even more so. Because Prince Turki was willing to sit on a panel with him, and the topic was "new security partnerships in the Middle East," Ashkenazi and his staff were lulled into a sense of security that turned out to be false.

The prince accused Israel of being the last "Western colonizer" in the Middle East, of having apartheid policies, of not truly being a democracy and of profligately killing people and demolishing homes.

These claims are absurd coming from an official in a country where human rights are so backward that permitting women to drive a few years ago was applauded as a great step forward.

Plus, Prince Turki's false accusations are a dime a dozen for any experienced Israeli diplomat or advocate, but, of course, Ashkenazi only dove into the world of diplomacy seven months ago, and he was expecting the conference to be a continuation of the love-fests between Israel and its new partners in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

And while Prince Turki himself has been openly critical of warming ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia before, Ashkenazi, after expressing his "regret" at the royal's statements, pointed out that Israeli ties with the UAE and Bahrain would not have happened without Saudi approval.

It's since those ties were announced, in mid-August, that the Saudis have gone back and forth, coming closer to Israel and stepping away.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have a history of hostility going back to Saudi troops fighting on the Arab side in Israel's War of Independence and the Yom Kippur War. In 2002, Saudi King Abdullah proposed the Arab Peace Plan that would require Israel to withdraw to the 1949...