The Strategic Saudi-‘Israeli’ Interests behind Eisenkot’s Saudi Interview

Local Editor

20-11-2017 | 14:34

‘Israeli’ military chief’s rare interview to a Saudi news website intersects with Saudi Arabia’s claims against Iran. Israel’s interests are both security-related and diplomatic and have to do with the Saudi involvement in the Trump administration’s Mideast peace initiative.

‘Israeli’ Occupation Forces [IOF] Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot rarely gives interviews. He has provided Zionist media outlets with a couple of interviews, and up until Thursday he hadn’t given a single interview to a foreign media outlet.

The interview to the Saudi online newspaper Elaph was the first interview Eisenkot gave a foreign media outlet since taking office. This is an important fact, because the timing and content of the interview point to the strategic interests behind it.

The first interest is security-related and has to do with the fact that in the event of a decision to operate in Iran, ‘Israel’ would need Saudi Arabia to at least turn a blind eye. Another interest is diplomatic. It has nothing to do with military or security issues, but rather with the ‘Israeli’Palestinian conflict.

Elaph reporter Majdi Halabi asked to interview the chief of staff more than a week ago, but Eisenkot accepted the request only several days later, after consulting with Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and under his order. The timing of the interview was basically determined by Netanyahu, while the content was determined by Eisenkot himself. What are the prime minister, chief of staff and war minister trying to achieve through this interview with the Saudi news website?

Part of the answer can be found in the fact that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is in a state of distress. He is subject to criticism within the Saudi royal family and among Saudi clerics, and his aggressive move against Iran-a conscious and military move-is at its midst and is raising eyebrows in the international community.

Support for Saudi claims

The things the chief of staff told the Saudi website strengthen the Saudi royal family’s claims against Iran. But when the “Israeli” chief of staff, who is considered a professional rather than a politician, specifies each of Iran’s intentions and the steps it is taking to gain regional “hegemony”, it’s a move that provides valuable support for Saudi claims.

There is also a great similarity between what Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said in his resignation speech in Riyadh and the intelligence analysis provided by the IOF chief in the Elaph interview. Eisenkot’s interview on Lebanon indicates that an authorized “Israeli” source supports Saudi Arabia’s claims not only against Iran in general, but specifically against Hezbollah.

Furthermore, when an IOF chief explicitly addresses the ‘threat’ Hezbollah poses to the Arab world, it is seen as a sort of implicit threat. The information ‘Israel’ claims it has on Iran, Hezbollah and their activities in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen serves as a very helpful hint for the Saudis in general, and for bin Salman in particular, in their efforts to enlist the Arab and American public opinion.

How does ‘Israel’ benefit from Eisenkot’s interview? The main thing ‘Israel’ stands to gain is tighter unofficial relations with Saudi Arabia. Bin Salman basically owes ‘Israel’ and Eisenkot for their swift help in confirming his claims against Iran and Hezbollah, and for the indirect aid they are offering him in his relations with US President Donald Trump and with the Europeans concerning the Middle East.

But even more important is apparently the diplomatic benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to gain from the interview. Trump is planning to present his plan or outline for a so-called agreement between ‘Israel’ and the Palestinians in about a month. This agreement will essentially be an American-Saudi initiative, largely based on the Saudi ‘peace’ plan.

Netanyahu hopes that a gesture towards bin Salman, who is about to succeed his father and be appointed king, will be answered with a gesture from the 32-year-old crown prince concerning an agreement with the Palestinians. Netanyahu doesn’t know what Trump’s initiative will include, but he does know that Saudi Arabia will play a significant part in it.

Eisenkot’s interview serves as an important leverage to enlist the Saudis’ influence on Trump. The Saudis have been constantly active on this issue, which is why they invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Saudi Arabia last week for talks aimed at softening his stance. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the White House official in charge of the ‘Israeli’-Palestinian issue have also visited Riyadh several times recently.

All this proves that the Saudi royal family and the crown prince are deeply involved in forming the American initiative. Netanyahu is concerned by this initiative because it may put his government’s survival to the test. This is the important context in which Eisenkot’s interview must be examined and understood.

Source: Ynet, Edited by website team

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