The leaks of the Hebrew newspapers about assigning the cybersecurity mission to the emerging Saudi city of Neom to Israeli digital security companies were not the latest scandals of the hidden normalization between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Zionist entity.
Aziz Al-Ghasheen, an analyst in Saudi-Israeli relations, revealed that the city of Neom -to be built on the coast of the Red Sea at a cost of $500 billion- is the new arena for the Saudi-Israeli cooperation.
“In general, Saudi Arabia is moving towards transforming its economy and making it more technology-based than oil-based, and Israel can help with that.”, he added.
NEOM indicates that Saudi Arabia and Israeli cooperation openly is increasing, and these relations are driven by Saudi prosperity rather than confronting Iran.”
Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies, said that while many of the deals remain secret, relations are now more public than before. He explained, “Israel is gaining legitimacy. Israel is now in the Gulf. It is not necessary for it to hide as it was in the past.”
He pointed out that the dispute between Biden and Mohamed bin Salman over the killing of the Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and in general due to human rights violations in Saudi as well as the UAE and Egypt, is in fact going to strengthen relations with Israel.
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Unannounced Normalization
A report by Foreign Policy magazine revealed that Israel seeks to be the new soft power in the Arab region, by achieving cooperation with the Gulf states in various fields, especially the Saudi coastal city of Neom, in which the report confirmed that cooperation between Israelis and Saudis will be unprecedented, however, this will be done behind closed doors.
Shmuel Barr, the former Israeli intelligence officer, said he was surprised when he received a WhatsApp call from Saudi Arabia. “It was quite surprising. It also confirms the gradual progress that Israel has made in building relations with the historically hostile Gulf states,” he said. Bar said the contract with his company was just one example of the tremendous change in Israel’s relations with the Gulf states over the past few years.
Bar worked in Israeli intelligence for 30 years and later founded IntuView, a company that searches social media content for terrorist threats. Intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies in Europe, the United States, and India were among his clients. Now, the Saudis were interested in hiring an Israeli data expert to help with counterterrorism policies.
The magazine pointed out that while US President Joe Biden talks about returning to the nuclear deal with Iran, Israel is working to strengthen an alliance with its Arab partners through strategic, technological, and commercial cooperation.
Analysts say that many Gulf states, or at least large segments of their population, do not want to be stay affirmed to the Palestinian cause anymore and see relations with Israel as necessary to diversify their economies.
New Alliance
Just last month, Israel called for a defense alliance with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain against Iran. It signed various agreements with the UAE, the second-largest economy in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia, in tourism, health, agriculture, and the water sector. According to a preliminary estimate, bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE is expected to increase from $ 300,000 to $ 500 million annually.
Israel also agreed to strengthen economic ties with Egypt. Late last month, on a rare visit, a high-ranking Egyptian minister visited Jerusalem, despite its contested status, and signed an agreement linking the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean with Egyptian LNG facilities via an underwater pipeline to export gas to European countries.
The magazine pointed out that Israel is also trying to soften the positions of countries that are hostile to it. It bought the Russian Coronavirus vaccine, for Syria, ostensibly under the prisoner exchange agreement with Syria. According to the report, Israel is working to enhance strategic cooperation by establishing pressure groups with a vested interest in the relationship through good commercial relations.
İt also explained that Israel is ready to cooperate in various fields, even in which American companies are concerned about cooperation, due to the human rights record in the Gulf, for example, monitoring social media.
Israel hopes that instead of being seen as a “war nation,” as it was, it can prove its value as an ally and not just against Iran.
Read More: Would Neom’s Basements Protect the Crown Prince when it’s Time to Change him?
