Very different topic. According to the US Navy, it was the largest multinational naval exercise ever in the Middle East, with about sixty participating countries (also the Netherlands), fifty warships and 9,000 men. But that wasn’t the most interesting part of it for me IMX (International Maritime Exercise) 22, which came to an end on Friday after more than two weeks of practice. I think it is worth your while because Israel took part in it for the first time, and that in addition to countries that do not (yet) have official relations with the Jewish state. Pakistan, Oman, and a few others, but foremost Saudi Arabia.
Israel and Saudi Arabia Military Practice Together! You should not take that together too literally; the training ground was divided into four sections: Persian Gulf (Arabic Gulf in US naval language), Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and Red Sea. The Israeli navy practiced in the Red Sea and I read that the Saudis were operating in a different trade. So it doesn’t mean diplomatic relations will follow tomorrow. Yet.
For Israeli media it was positive, nice news, but I couldn’t find any Saudi newspapers reporting it. While the Anglophone Saudi newspaper Arab News did rejoice at the news that Kuwait and Lebanon are cutting the film Death on the Nile banned because an Israeli actress who served in the military, Gal Gadot, stars in it† With us, the citizens crowd at the cinemas where the film is playing, cheered Arab Newswhich as a service show times printed with it. It is clear that for the Saudi authorities (= the crown prince) an Israeli actress is of a different order than practicing military together; the latter is higher politics and the Saudi citizen does not need to know. By the way, do you have Death on the Nile seen? I don’t know if Agatha Christie would have been very happy with this edit.
There is quite a bit of maritime practice in the area, and that has a lot to do with the tensions with Iran – think, for example, of the Iranian-supplied missiles that Yemeni Houthi rebels fire from time to time at Arab Gulf states. Three weeks ago in the Emirates, exactly when Israeli President Herzog was visiting.
In November, the Americans practiced in the Red Sea together with Bahrain, the Emirates and Israel, and then really together, something that would not have been possible before the normalization of two years ago. Israel and Bahrain are getting closer and closer. Israel’s defense minister signed defense agreements in Manama, and Prime Minister Bennett was there last week to warn against Iranian terror plans. Even an Israeli naval officer is now stationed in Bahrain. This goes well beyond the rapprochement between Israel and the Emirates, which is mainly economic. The Emirates keep as many balls in the air as possible, including an Iranian ball. But Bahrain’s Sunni elite suppress a Shia majority they see as sensitive to Iranian incitement, and now turn to Israel for support.
What is the position of the Iranian leaders on this? Iran also practiced, using ballistic missiles and stating that they served as a warning to Israel. “We will cut off their hands if they make the wrong move,” said General Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards. But for the time being, it will stay with war words back and forth.
Caroline Roelants is a Middle East expert and separates the facts from the hype here every week.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of February 21, 2022