Many hurdles to Saudi-Israeli nuptials

MAHIR ALI

Late last week, Joe Biden hosted the leaders of South Korea and Japan at Camp David to nudge them towards increased economic and “security” cooperation, as part of the US administration’s aggressive pushback against Chinese ambitions. Living memories of Japan’s brutal rule in Korea have stood in the way of bonhomie between the two staunch American allies. The push for closer coordination coincides with a US-endorsed resurgence in Japanese militarism, which plagued the region in the early 20th century.

A similar impetus is behind a parallel US push for a formal diplomatic deal between a repressive monarchy and a diminishing democracy in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia enjoys reasonably cordial relations with China. Its de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), knows that this — not least the Beijing-sponsored rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran — irritates Washington, and is leveraging it.

The Saudis are not shy of implying they could shift their source of military imports to China, even Russia, if America falls short. The conditions for a deal with Israel reportedly include a mutual defence pact, a civilian nuclear plan involving the enrichment of uranium, and Israeli ‘concessions’ to Palestinians that would preserve the possibility — rather, the fiction — of a two-state solution.