Vince Dhimos answered a question at the Spanish-language sector of Quora. In the please find our translation of the question and Vince’s answer. Before you read Vince’s answer, have a look at some of the documentation on the Israel-Saudi relationship so that you can see how cozy these two bed fellows have been over the past 2 decades and more. The following is just the tip of the iceberg: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190211-ex-saudi-intelligence-chief-reveals-secret-israel-saudi-relations/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/19/why-israel-quietly-cosying-up-to-gulf-monarchies-saudi-arabia-uae https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-03/israel-s-cold-peace-with-saudi-arabia-has-a-dark-side https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43632905 HOW DOES SAUDI ARABIA VIEW ISRAEL? https://es.quora.com/C%C3%B3mo-ve-Arabia-Saudita-a-Israel Unfortunately, the alliance between the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia is more important to these 3 allies than world peace. This is because Israel and Saudi Arabia both still see the United States as the greatest world power, capable of protecting them from their own reckless and warlike behaviour, and they are too myopic to see that the balance of world power is changing rapidly, ie, that the centre of gravity is moving inexorably eastward. Ironically, while the Saudi people (grassroots) do not accept Israel on the basis of religious and ethnic considerations, the Saudi royal family is obsessed with its hatred of Iran and Shiites to such an extent that it wants to maintain enmity with the Shiite world even though Shiites are Muslims too. It is incredible that Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, prefers its relationship with the Israelis and Americans over its relationship with other Muslims, but that is the reality that has existed for decades. It is important to understand why many ordinary Muslims (outside the royal families of Saudi and the Gulf statelets) do not recognize the state of Israel. Quite simply, the Muslims accept a version of the founding of Israel that asserts that it was founded by Zionists who, according to Palestinian sources, expelled most of the Arabs from land these Arabs had inhabited long before the first Zionists arrived in the Middle East. And they did so by murder and terror. The Israelis today generally deny that they expelled the Arabs from their homeland. They claim that the Arabs left spontaneously. However, the history of their abandonment of their homes by the Palestinian Arabs is well documented It can be found in various sources, including: this Quora article: https://es.quora.com/Tiene-derecho-a-existir-el-Estado-de-Israel-Por-qu%C3%A9-o-por-qu%C3%A9-no/answer/Vince-Dhimos This book, available as a free download, by an Israeli historian: https://archive.org/details/TheEthnicCleansingOfPalestinePappeIlan This documentary made by Israeli and Arab historians: https://palestinalibre.org/articulo.php?a=44961 The version of Israel’s history detailed in these sources is accepted by the Saudi people, but the watered-down version propagated by Israel and many American historians influenced by Israel is generally accepted by the Saudi royal family. Thus there is a potential for an overthrow of the Saudi government, but the royal family has bought its population with its petrodollars – so far. However, if the oil deposits in the country become depleted to a certain critical level, the royal family will no longer be able to buy the compliance of the people. Further, since the murder of Jamal Kashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, influential members of the US Congress and Senate have been withdrawing their support for Saudi Arabia and the Saudi crown prince has been making threats (empty so far) against the petrodollar. All of this hue and cry over the affaire Kashoggi could change the power structure in Saudi Arabia and weaken US-Saudi ties. This could in turn impact Saudi-Israeli ties. Finally, in this context, it is worthwhile to note that, while the Iranian leadership has declared its willingness to dialogue with the Saudis, the Saudi kingdom refuses to negotiate with Iran and, like Israel, continues to focus only on war. But without the unswerving support from the United States, they would have to change their mind and start the much needed dialogue. And since Russia is the only country that is trusted by the Muslims of both branches, ie, Sunnis and Shiites, and also has good relations with Israel, it would be the only effective arbiter between Iran on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia and Israel on the other hand.
1 Comment
John McClain
7/4/2019 06:27:26 am
When there is no more time left for B.S., the Russia-China alliance will be the arbiter of future issues in the Gulf, because both are not only engaged in diplomacy with all the region's powers, but at the same time, investing to connect them, with the BRI, making them have a dog in the fight, an investment to consider before waging war.
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