Israel is open to the idea of engaging in future military cooperation with its newest Gulf allies to counter Iran's growing influence in the region and help stabilize the Middle East, an Israeli defense official told online publication Media Line on Friday.
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"Of course, there are a lot of benefits" regarding the exchange of missile technology between Israel and its new allies in the Gulf, said Moshe Patel, head of Israel's Missile Defense Organization, which operates under the country's Defense Ministry.
He stressed, however, that the subject should be discussed and approved by Jerusalem and Washington, and that no tangible progress should be expected in the near future.
Hugh Lovatt, a policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, echoed Patel's optimistic assessment concerning military cooperation between Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.
"Access to Israeli technology and innovations, especially in the field of defense, is of major interest to the Arab Gulf countries, and has been a key element for this summer's standardization agreements between Israel and the Emirates and Bahrain."
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"The countries of the Arab Gulf are increasingly concerned about Iran's missile and drone capabilities, and their transfer to armed groups in the region."
Lovatt added that "the missile attacks on Saudi sites by Houthi rebels, and the September 2019 attack on Aramco, which was attributed to Iran and its allies, combined with the lack of a significant response from the United States, have raised awareness of these vulnerabilities and concerns in the Gulf countries.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
