Israel is not at all interested in opening a front against Hezbollah just to please Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is opposed to plans by the other members of the Anti-Terror Quartet to confront Iran and Hezbollah in the Levant, to maintain Lebanon's relatively stable position.
BY ASIA TIMES STAFF
With Trump administration “there is an opportunity to form a new international alliance in the region”
- Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, is using his father’s reputation to bolster his own bona fides as a leader of the Salafi-jihadi movement. Hamza’s increased role in al Qaeda’s media reflects his cultivation as an al Qaeda leader and an effort to draw recruits away from ISIS.
- ISIS resumed an attack campaign in Aden after nearly a year of inactivity in southern Yemen. ISIS militants conducted two suicide bombings on security targets in a ten-day period. The attacks are likely intended to show strength after a series of U.S. airstrikes destroyed ISIS training camps in central Yemen.
An Israeli minister on the security Cabinet, Yuval Steinitz, publicly acknowledged on Sunday that Israel maintains discreet connections with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries for the purpose of countering Iran. “The connection with the moderate Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, helps stop Iran,” said Steinitz. Steinitz said cooperation with Riyadh includes “improving” the 2015 nuclear accord and preventing Iran from establishing military bases along Syria’s border with Israel. Steinitz’s remarks come after Israel Defense Forces chief Gadi Eizenkot offered an interview to a Saudi paper last week in which he offered to cooperate with Saudi Arabia against Iran. Read More
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Prince Mohammed bin Zayed are dramatically changing relations with Israel.