Could Trump Bring a Surprise Guest to His Parley at the UN?

If Israel is good enough to help Saudi Arabia’s defense against the Houthis, why can’t Riyadh bring its ties with the Jewish state out of the shadows? The desert kingdom’s would-be allies are proving to be fair weather friends, if that. Riyadh’s latest is turning to Beijing for help. Good luck with that. While the Chinese Communists are politely asking Tehran to rein in the Houthis, Israel is providing the Saudis with valuable help in the war against Tehran’s Yemeni proxy. President Trump is planning to meet with Gulf countries officials to discuss the war at next week’s United Nations gathering. Last week military commanders from eight Mideast countries, including Saudi Arabia, met in Germany, Axios reports. Our Central Command’s leader, Admiral Brad Cooper, presided. Israel Defense Forces chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, attended that “secret” session.Why secret? This week marks the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords. Israel’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Yossi Shelley, tells Kan News that the next country to formalize relations with Israel will be Kuwait. This week the American ambassador at the United Nations, Mike Waltz, alongside Israeli and Moroccan foreign ministers, are promising deepened cooperation between Abraham signatories, Jerusalem, and Rabat. Why not the Saudis?The holy grail of Mideast peacemaking could well be Riyadh’s recognition of the Jewish state. Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman, though, keeps hesitating. Saudis eagerly consume anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda, and hardline clerics vehemently oppose relations with the Jewish state. Receiving Israeli intelligence and strategic advice, on the other hand, is less objectionable even to Riyadh’s opponents of normalization. The mutual defense agreement that Riyadh signed with Pakistan and Turkey is useless. The Ankara parliament is yet to announce a date for a vote to ratify the Mecca accord, which was announced with great fanfare in August. Pakistan is chasing elusive diplomacy between Washington and Tehran. Appeals to the mullahs for meaningless concessions in search of a deal is unlikely to help Saudi oil exporters, who are under attack from the Houthis. The crown prince and de-facto Saudi ruler, known as MbS, is asking Mr. Trump to dispatch American bombers to hit targets in Yemen. Instead, a small number of American advisers are assisting the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in targeting Houthi positions. Admiral Cooper of our Central Command reportedly linked Saudi and Israeli military officials, and Jerusalem is now sharing with Riyadh intelligence on Houthi movements.Israeli officials are telling reporters that they might help the Saudis even beyond intelligence sharing. At the same time, Israel’s diplomats are highly skeptical that such cooperation would lead to a breakthrough in normalization. MbS is adamant on Israel making “irreversible” progress toward Palestinian statehood. His stance will make it difficult for Riyadh to tighten relations beyond covert military assistance from the Jewish state.That is where Mr. Trump could come in. Some at Washington predict that the president’s summit with Gulf leaders next week at the UN is designed to coordinate ways to end the Iran war. The Islamic Republic gets a vote, though, but is yet to signal a desire to end its belligerence. Mr. Trump could yet invite a surprise guest to the parley. A group photo with Prime Minister Netanyahu could be more conducive to Mideast peace than appeasing Iran.

Could Trump Bring a Surprise Guest to His Parley at the UN?

Could Trump Bring a Surprise Guest to His Parley at the UN?

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