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Middle Eastern Perspectives

Attendance at the Herzliya Conference, or "Herzlia" as some pronounce it, is seen as a new station in exploring and understanding the spectra of Israeli politics and Israelis, as well as others who attended or participated in its sessions. Investigation was the key to all discussions to understand the details of recent approaches towards the (Chinese/American) region and the potential transformations it may produce in the regional balances. Despite the diversity of Israeli perspectives, their security concern remains the primary driving and governing force for their regional outlook, followed by the development of what the Abraham Accords have established. The third is achieving "normalization" with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is manifested in their urging of the American ally to leverage all its political weight with Riyadh to achieve that. Despite the absence of accounting for the costs or consequences of such an approach from the Israeli side, or understanding and comprehending Riyadh's priorities from its Saudi and Islamic perspective, the second driving force is the unstable political situation in Israel, which "repels" any possibility of such rapprochement.


On the American side, two factors emerge: the extension of the Chinese approach to the Middle East beyond the Saudi-Iranian agreement, and the extent of its similarity to European approaches, as well as the impact of the convergence of the two approaches on US influence in the region, especially after the decline in the nuclear issue as one of the most important drivers of US foreign policy towards the region. Washington is concerned about Riyadh achieving a breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear file through Chinese mediation, and the extent of the shift in the European position towards Beijing's influence in reshaping a difficult axis from the American geopolitical perspective.

What is absent or obscured from the collective perspective (American-Israeli) towards the region is the possibility of developing a shared regional perspective that guarantees the achievement of common interests for all parties involved, as well as regional consensus in terms of priorities, foremost of which is the restoration and sustainability of stability through all the mechanisms that ensure sustainability (security, economic, social).

Confirming that it is impossible to exclude the collective security concern of all the countries in the region for over twenty years (since the invasion of Iraq in 2003), assuming the sustainability of the shared American-Israeli security perspective for the region has become unsustainable. Also, accepting the deferral of confidence-building mechanisms between the parties to the peace process in the Middle East (Israel and the Palestinian Authority), even if the sustainable solution is postponed, there are prospects for development through the joint economic geography (Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli) capable of creating a different reality from the existing socio-economic reality. If there are supportive efforts to create engines capable of achieving non-traditional and supportive approaches to a shared regional perspective, equal in terms of impact and the Abraham Accords, and establishing a shared regional culture.


Original article

https://www.alittihad.ae/opinion/4378415/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B4-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9

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