Wikileaks: Israel Maintains Ties To The Arab World Behind The Scenes

I have written before that Israel is not quite so isolated as some would have us believe.

Now this week we have learned about more than just the Arab world's fear of Iran--the recent Wikileaks documents reveal the ties the Arab world secretly maintains with Israel:

Contrary to the condemnatory rhetoric opposing Israel in public, Arab diplomats behind the scenes have asked Israel to carry messages to the U.S. government and urged tougher action on Iran.

The March 19, 2009, cable quotes Yacov Hadas, deputy director of Israels Foreign Ministry, as telling an American diplomat: "The Gulf Arabs believe in Israel's role because of their perception of Israel's close relationship with the U.S., but also due to their sense that they can count on Israel against Iran."

Mr. Hadas then says, "They believe Israel can work magic."


Israel and the Gulf states have grown increasingly concerned in recent years about Iran's nuclear program and that country's support for radical political movements and terrorism throughout the Middle East.

While it is true that Jordan and Egypt has openly maintained diplomatic ties with Israel, the fact remains that

nearly every Arab state has had less-formal ties with Israel on and off since the beginning of the Oslo peace process in the 1990s, but those ties began to sever in 2000 with the collapse of the peace process.

Aaron David Miller, who has been a senior Middle East adviser to six secretaries of state, said every Arab country with the exception of Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Libya has had some diplomatic channel to Israel.

Thus Wikileaks reveals that despite the outcry from the Arab world in response to Operation Cast Lead in the beginning of 2009, by March 2009 Qatar has already invited an Israeli delegation to Doha to discuss reopening the trade mission--even while simultaneously hiring Fenton Communications to run a campaign in the US highlighting the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to Aaron David Miller, a senior Middle East adviser to six secretaries of state:

"In a sense, the Arabs are getting the best of both worlds: They get points with the Americans for carrying out quiet contacts with the Israelis, but they don't get hammered by their own press or their regional rivals. That is how they prefer it," he said.

I imagine that given the circumstances, for now Israel is satisfied with that arrangement as well.

Technorati Tag: Wikileaks and Qatar and Middle East.