Highlights
- The Iranian threat is pulling the once-clandestine relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia into the public eye.
- But there are other factors encouraging the two countries to work more closely with each other, including their legitimacy at home and abroad.
- As Israel and Saudi Arabia move into uncharted territory, both risk exposing themselves to pushback and new dangers.
There was a time when Saudi Arabia considered its enmity for Israel to be a mainstay of its power. But the shifting tides of geopolitics are steadily undercutting the value of conflict between the two. Perhaps nowhere is this change clearer than in an appearance last week by Israeli defense chief Gadi Eisenkot on a Saudi-owned TV station. During the Nov. 16 interview, Eisenkot declared Israel's readiness to share intelligence with Saudi Arabia on Iran. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz later reinforced his colleague's comment, confirming that Israel's ties with the kingdom were getting stronger.
Despite their natural hostility, the two countries have a long history of working together behind the scenes. In fact, their quiet cooperation is one of the worst-kept secrets in the Middle East. Nearly 70 years after the Jewish state was founded, however, the Gulf kingdom's new strategic needs — and a diminished appetite for continued acrimony among its people — seem to be bringing the uneasy neighbors' once-shadowy relationship into the international spotlight.
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