Editorial Board
Jerusalem Post, June 23, 2022
“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced his so-called “Octopus Doctrine,” “operating against the head of the octopus of terrorism” i.e. Iran, rather than “just against the octopus’s tentacles,” operating in Syria and elsewhere.”
The planned visit by US President Joe Biden to the Middle East next month is highlighting shifts in the region. Although Biden will be visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the spotlight is on his trip to Saudi Arabia for a regional meeting. His predecessor, Donald Trump, together with then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, created the Abraham Accords in 2020, a treaty linking Israel with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. These were strengthened under the Bennett-Lapid government as was particularly evident in March, when Lapid managed to convene the foreign ministers of four Arab countries and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Negev Summit.
It’s clear that regional cooperation offers major economic and development benefits, however, that is not the main impetus behind the accords. Israel and the Sunni and Arab world are growing closer because of the shared threat of a nuclear Iran. Today, Israel is becoming recognized more than ever as a part of the Middle East that has an essential role to play. The Negev Summit gave rise to renewed talk of a Middle Eastern “NATO.”
At the summit in Sde Boker, Lapid declared, “The shared capabilities we are building intimidates and deters our common enemies – first and foremost, Iran and its proxies.” When the meeting was overshadowed by a terrorist attack, the Arab foreign ministers attending the event condemned the atrocity.
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