Tag: Bahrain

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Thanks To Trump The Real Great Reset Is Already Here

Regardless of one’s personal views of President Trump, it is undeniable that his push towards a serious Middle East realignment is not only bearing fruit, but is in a sense recalibrating most of the world’s relationship to the region.

True, many others have tried, but it is the Trump administration which seized on the changing currents in the region. Ironically, it was the Obama administration’s cozying up to Iran, which essentially pushed the Sunni Gulf States to move into an open alliance with Israel. This alliance, now dubbed the Abraham Accords, has been the single most revolutionary geopolitical change in the world since the end of the Cold War.

Why? Isn’t this just another Arab-Israeli peace treaty like Jordan or Egypt?

No. It is far more transformative.

The peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan were just that peace treaties. They ended the state of war between them and Israel. This is similar to the recent peace treaty with Sudan. While all these are important, it is not as seismic as the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain, which were never at war with Israel. The Abraham Accords is about normalization and cooperation – meaning real peace.

Already Israeli produce and products can be seen in the markets of these once unlikely allies and a stream of government officials from the UAE and Bahrain have visited Israel signing cooperative agreements.

The move to normalization and cooperation is the beginning of handing the region back to its indigenous populaces and ends decades of overt US interference. We see this in the direct actions the Trump administration is now taking to pull out US troops from Afganistan, Iraq, and Syria.

While there are skeptics, it has become apparent that the Abraham Accords furthered the dream of a “New Middle East” faster than haggling over the veracity of the “Palestinian” narrative. The Trump’s viewpoint is essentially to ignore obstinate actors and bring those to the table that are willing to work together to form a real alliance that can stand up against Iran and Turkey.

Peace is about power. For decades the Military Industrial Complex (MIC), Neocons, and the Deep State have used and instigated unending conflict in the Middle East to insert itself and insitute control that benefitted the elites in charge. President Trump has now ended that.

Without unending conflict and even presence, all the MIC can do is sell weapons to the sides, but when Israel can make an arsenal that is just as good as the USA, there is not much money to be made.

In one fell swoop, Trump’s Abraham Accords has left the never solved Israel-Palestinian conflict behind, solidified the anti-Iran alliance, checked Turkey, and created the atmosphere that has allowed Trump to end direct US occupation of Eastern Syria, Iraq, and Afganistan.

This is the real great reset and no, the elites and Deep State don’t like it one bit.

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Will Bahrain and Tunisia Move Their Embassies to Jerusalem?

With all the noise around President Trump’s decertification of the Iran deal over the last seven days, two voices, traditionally associated with being in opposition to Israel, made astonishing statements signaling the end of their animosity to Israel.

The first is Bahrain, whose foreign minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa declared the following after the first direct confrontation between Iran and Israel Wednesday night:

“As long as Iran has breached the status quo in the region and invaded countries with its forces and missiles, so any state in the region, including Israel, is entitled to defend itself by destroying sources of danger.”

Bahrain has shown extroadinary openess to Jews in recent years with its king including a Jew on his council. While Bahrain despises Iran, ever since the Iranian attempted stage a coup against its king in 1981, this statement goes far beyond other overtures.

The second country is Tunisia, who still has a Jewish population on the island of Jerba.  The head of Tunisia’s Liberal Party Mounir Baator made the following statement in a debate on Tunisian TV where he argued with a conservative lawmaker:

“How was Israel affected by the tearing up of its flag? It was a meaningless gesture with no impact. He took an A4 sheet of paper and tore it up. It was nothing but a show. Why didn’t you tear up the American flag?” he said.

He explained that “we are calling for normal economic relations with all countries. We believe that enmity toward Israel and love of the Palestinian cause are not Tunisia’s real problems today. Tunisia’s problems are social and economic.”

“Whether or not you tear up the flag of the Zionist entity… By the way, it is called the State of Israel, not the Zionist entity. The State of Israel exists, it is a member in the United Nations and in all the international organizations, and its flag flies everywhere. So whether or not you tear it up is immaterial to Israel,” he added.

While it appears these two countries are far from ready to move their embassies to Jerusalem, let alone having real diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, the voices beginning to flow from many of their citizens and even government members are encouraging and a true sign that we are living in momentous times.

 

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What is Behind Bahrain’s Outreach to Israel?

The news has been abuzz since yesterday when Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah called for the end of the Arab boycott of Israel and even said he allowed his citizens to travel there. This surprise announcement came within a meeting held in Bahrain with Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, who head the Wiesenthal Center. The King has announced his desire to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in Bahrain’s capital before 2018.

The announcement maybe a shock to the word outside the Middle East, but King Hamad is considered to be one of the more tolerant rulers in the Middle East.  Bahrain boasts a multi religious society where religious tolerance is seen as a virtue. There are Mosques, Churches, Hindu and Buddhist Temples and yes a Synagogue.

Last year, the King made waves by his hosting a public Chanukkah lighting ceremony.

Jews who have lived in Bahrain since Talmudic times, numbered 1,500 in Bahrain until 1947 when pro-Palestinian outsiders came and rioted, forcing many Jews to flee the island nation. Most observers support the assertion that the local Bahraini Arabs actually protected their Jewish neighbors from the outsiders.  When the same thing occurred in 1967, most of the remaining Jews fled to Israel or England. There are presently 30 to 50 Jews remaining in the Kingdom, with one Jew Houda Nonoo, a woman having served in its 40 person parliament as its ambassador to the USA.

So what is behind this announcement and why now?

With the Saudi Crown Prince moving to take over from his ailing father in the coming months in conjunction with the Sunni bloc’s desire to hold back the formation of Russian backed Shiite crescent connecting the Mediterranean with Tehran, leaders in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain see Israel as an anchor to which they can hold the region’s future to.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman cannot make a public overture with his future leadership still in question, but King Hamad can.  His overture is not a policy shift in a defined sense, but a preparation for the coming overt alliance, that has been hinted at in Jerusalem and Washington.

Palestinian Issue Has Peaked

The Sunni Arab bloc, understanding that the Palestinian national movement had been a useful tool since 1967 have drawn a conclusion that the trojan horse not only has failed, but has spawned the very terrorism in strategy and tactics tha threatens their own regime. It cannot be folded up in a day, but the understanding that Israel is not going anywhere and given the impossibility of a “Palestinian” State, the Gulf Arabs have clearly decided that a deal with Israel is more important than keeping the false narrative of the “Palestinian People” going.

The deal that has more than probably been reached behind the scenes is an acceptance of the status quo by all sides. In effect it is a permanent Oslo Accords until something better comes along. For the Arabs, they can make due with saying disputed territories as opposed to occupied and the Israelis can finally gain a measure of regional integration and leadership.

King Hamad’s announcement is the first key indication that the Sunni Arab bloc is ready to publicly accept Israel. What follows after maybe a far bigger vision for the Middle East than previously thought.

 

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Who is Anwar Eshki and Why is he Leading a Saudi Delegation to Israel?

Dore Gold, the Foreign Ministry Director General met with a Saudi delegation headed by ex-general Anwar Eshki. Never mind the fact that Saudis were so openly visiting with Israelis in Israel, the fact that such a high-profile and high ranking Saudi was heading the delegation has given buzz to a variety of internet rumors.

Both the Saudis and Israel have not tried to hide their once covert operation against Iran.  What has confused observers is the extent of the cooperation.  The Saudis and other Gulf States know that Israel will never be a danger to their regimes.  Up until now Israel had been an interesting foil for the autocratic leaders throughout the Sunni world, but now that Iran, emboldened by Russia, China, and the Obama administration looms like a menace over the Arabian peninsula, Israel is far more helpful against their mutual threat.

Besides the nuclear threat, Iranian subterfuge and active support for Shiite separatist movements and uprising in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have unnerved Riyadh and its allies. All of this is backdrop on Anwar Eshki’s visit to Jerusalem and burgeoning alliance between Israel and the Sunni states.

As of last year Eshki and Gold spoke together at a CFR sponsored event. Both outlined why it is ultimately necessary to work together against Iranian expansionism.  There were obvious differences, but the two painted a picture of tremendous mutual cooperation.

Anwar Eshki has been the main proponent of reaching out to Israel and seeking their cooperation against the Iranian regime.

“The main project between me and Dore Gold is to bring peace between Arab countries and Israel,” Anwar Eshki said in Wall Street Journal interview published last August. “This is personal, but my government knows about the project. My government isn’t against it, because we need peace. For that reason, I found Dore Gold. He likes his country. I like my country. We need to profit from each other.”

“We didn’t talk much about Iran at first,” he continued, “but I found that our idea and their idea was close together against Iran. We don’t like Iran to destabilize the area. We don’t like for Iran to attack Israel and destroy Israel. And we also don’t like for Israel to attack Iran and destroy Iran. This is my idea. He has another idea. But we are together.”

The meeting between Gold and Eshki come at a time of increasing chaos in the region.  Many observers believe that the Arab world has moved beyond the Palestinian issue as is evidenced in cooperation between Israel and Abu Dubai, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia on issues beyond security.  The Gulf States have realized that they need to learn how Israel has built an innovation power house in order to diversify their economies.

Israel and Arab Peace A Long Way Off, but Progress is at Hand

The Arab Initiative as a peace plan still exists.  It is floated every once in a while, but it is clear both sides have decided to let their differing contours for peace remain on the sidelines and instead focus on solutions and progress in the security and development spheres.

General Anwar Eshki’s visit is visible proof that peace is not necessary for cooperation, especially when the enemy is at your collective doors.