Leaked US documents expose secret military ties between Israel and Arab states during Gaza war

The Arab world has publicly repeatedly condemned Israel during the war against Hamas. However, the Washington Post revealed on Saturday that at least six Arab states secretly cooperated with Israel during the Gaza war. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates reportedly all maintained close intelligence and military cooperation with Israel during the war.

The Arab-Israeli cooperation was coordinated with the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and is part of a security network known as the “Regional Security Construct.” The purpose of the Washington-led regional security architecture is to counter the threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran and its regional terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. The report is based on leaked documents that the paper obtained together with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). 

All defense meetings between senior Israeli and Arab security officials and U.S. military personnel were defined as “sponsored and confidential” and media was deliberately kept out of the picture with bans on photography. 

One document reveals that joint military training was held in September involving troops from the U.S., Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UK, India and Jordan. 

The documents reveal that Saudi Arabia, a country with no official diplomatic ties with Israel, played a central role in supplying intelligence to the Jewish state but also to Arab countries like Yemen and Syria on ISIS operations. 

Last year when Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were reportedly involved in an international alliance that intercepted some of the Iranian projectiles fired at Israel. 

The unprecedented Israeli strike on Hamas’ headquarters in Qatar last month reportedly led to a crisis in the security cooperation between the Jewish state and the involved Arab states, especially Qatar, a country with close ties with Hamas leaders. This reportedly prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar for the Israeli aerial strike on Hamas leaders in Doha where at least one Qatari security official was killed. 

The leaked documents reportedly specifically mentions that the security cooperation between Israel and the Arab states “does not constitute a new alliance” and stresses the need to keep a discreet profile.

The same Arab states have publicly accused Israel of war crimes and even genocide in Gaza. 

The Washington Post cited security analysts who assessed that the Arab states that depend on U.S. security guarantees fear Israel’s military power. 

“The Gulf states fear an unrestrained Israel but depend on the U.S. and worry about Iran’s growing strength,” Prof. Thomas Juneau of the University of Ottawa explained. 

While the Arab states have publicly embraced Trump’s Gaza peace plan, none of the involved Middle Eastern states have so far confirmed that they are prepared to send troops to maintain security in a post-war Gaza. 

Despite ups and downs in the Arab-Israeli security ties, the documents indicate that there are already future plans for a “Middle East Cyber Center” and a regional “Information Fusion Center” that would optimize sharing of real-time defense data training for Arab and Israeli security experts.