Bahrain-Israel and Turkey-UAE highlight strategic shift in Gulf
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Riyadh lauds US adherence to Gulf security
MANAMA, Feb 15, (Agencies): Israel’s prime minister met with Bahrain’s king and crown prince on Tuesday as the new allies sought to nurture closer cooperation and present a united front to their shared nemesis Iran. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was making a one-day visit to the Gulf island kingdom, the first by an Israeli leader, less than two years after the countries established formal diplomatic relations as part of the U.S.-brokered “Abraham Accords.” Bennett was greeted by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, who also serves as the kingdom’s prime minister, and a military color guard at Manama’s Gudaibiya Palace. He told the crown prince that he came “with a spirit of goodwill, of cooperation, of standing together against mutual challenges.” Bennett also met with several government ministers and discussed the need for greater economic cooperation. “We must do more to get to know one another and build upon the Abraham Accords, which have been such a historic agreement,” the crown prince said, referring to the meeting with Bennett as “cousins getting together.”
The Israeli prime minister traveled with around two dozen Israeli and foreign journalists, but most of his visit was closed to the media. Bennett and Al-Khalifa’s remarks were transmitted to journalists in a video statement. In recent months, as tensions with Iran have soared, the two countries have intensified military cooperation. Early this month, they signed a defense pact, and last week, Bahrain announced that an Israeli naval officer would be stationed in Manama, which is also home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
The Israeli military confirmed it will have a naval representative attached to the 5th fleet. Bennett met with the fleet commander, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, during his stop in Manama. Bennett’s office said the fleet “is a significant element in maintaining regional stability in the face of various security threats.” It did not mention Iran specifically. But Israel has made no secret of its concerns about Iranian naval activities across the region. Israel has stepped up its naval presence in the Red Sea after a series of attacks on commercial ships with links to Israel, which it blamed on Iran. Earlier this month Israeli ships took part in a massive naval exercise in the Gulf, which included ships from Oman and Saudi Arabia, with whom Israel does not have formal diplomatic ties. Israeli warships also participated in U.S.-led naval drills with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Red Sea in November.
Ties Israel and Bahrain established formal diplomatic ties after years of clandestine security cooperation over their shared enmity of Bahrain’s neighbor, Iran. Israel and Bahrain have exchanged ambassadors and signed trade and defense agreements since they signed a normalization agreement on the White House lawn, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco, in September 2020.
Turkey’s red flag illuminated buildings in the United Arab Emirates and flew high in a ceremony in Dubai on Tuesday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spent a second day in the once adversarial country mending relations and deepening commercial ties. The new page in UAE-Turkey relations points to a wider reset in regional strategies following a decade of strained ties and proxy wars that played out between the two countries. Turkey’s support for Islamists during Arab Spring protests roiled Abu Dhabi’s leadership, which views the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots as an existential threat to its style of autocratic hereditary rule. So deep was their animosity that Ankara suspects the UAE backed a network behind the failed coup targeting Erdogan in 2016.
In other signs of a political shift, Erdogan has plans to visit Saudi Arabia sometime in February following a deep strain in ties and will welcome Israel’s president next month. The pomp and Turkish flag-waving cavalry that greeted Erdogan a day earlier for his meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and de facto leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, continued on in Dubai, which positions itself as the UAE’s globally alluring tourism and finance hub. Erdogan was greeted by Dubai ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the emirate’s multibillion-dollar Expo site to celebrate Turkish culture and history at the World’s Fair. Visitors at Expo were given Turkey’s red and white crescent-and-star flag to wave as Erdogan toured Turkey’s pavilion following a Turkish musical performance under the fair’s main dome. Standing before a select audience, Erdogan praised the UAE for being the first Arab country to host the World’s Fair.
It’s a stark pivot from only a year or so ago, when it was anyone’s guess whether Turkey would even have a presence at Dubai’s Expo. As relations soured, prominent officials and government supporters from both sides traded jabs and insults over social media and in state-aligned press outlets. Now, these same social media accounts are tweeting under hashtags hailing the renewed ties, sharing videos of Emiratis speaking Turkish and championing a performance in Turkish by the Emirates’ most famous singer Hussain al-Jasmi at the piano.
The world’s tallest tower, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, lit up in the colors of the Turkish fl ag to mark Erdogan’s visit while commuters on Dubai’s main highway drove under a sign praising the bilateral ties. Senior Emirati diplomat and advisor, Anwar Gargash, noted on Twitter that the warm reception Erdogan has received is a result of the “fruits of the hard work undertaken by the UAE to promote an agenda of stability and prosperity.” The reset in ties was undertaken by the UAE following a Saudi-led rollback last year of an unprecedented and largely unsuccessful embargo of Qatar over its support for Islamists in the region and its ties with Iran. Qatar was supported by Turkey, which beefed up its troop presence in the country. Like Iran, Turkey rushed to support the tiny but wealthy gas-rich Gulf Arab state with essential imports in the first days of the economic and political boycott.
The rebuilding of ties with Turkey signals a wider UAE strategy to use economic cooperation, and its oil wealth, as a main tool to recalibrate its foreign policy posture, particularly in the face of continued tensions with Iran and a new administration in Washington seeking to reenter nuclear talks. For Erdogan, it comes as Turkey faces an economic crisis and a depreciating currency. Help could come in the form of more Gulf Arab tourists. Dubai’s low-cost carrier fl ydubai announcing Tuesday it would expand the number of fl ights to Istanbul from seven to 12 per week. Speaking to investors and business people in Abu Dhabi, Erdogan said Turkey and the UAE had a “common will” to increase trade and investments, following the signing of 13 agreements Monday. Erdogan said the UAE was Turkey’s top trade partner in the Gulf. “Even during the period when our bilateral relations experienced a pause, our commercial relations retained its volume and partnerships of our private sectors maintained their vitality,” he said.
The UAE had agreed in January to a currency swap deal of nearly $5 billion to boost Turkey’s depleted foreign exchange reserves. During the Abu Dhabi crown prince’s breakthrough visit to Turkey last fall, Emirati officials said the UAE would set aside $10 billion for investment in Turkey. The Saudi cabinet on Tuesday hailed US President Joe Biden’s commitment to support security of the kingdom and the Gulf region. Official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the cabinet, during a session chaired by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al- Saud, lauded president Biden’s adherence to defending the kingdom’s territories, protecting its citizens, securing its defense requirements, bolstering joint efforts to safeguard security and stability of the country and the region.
The government affirmed keenness on tackling causes of escalation in the region and supporting the US Administration’s efforts to prevent Iran from possessing nuclear arms. Moreover, the cabinet affirmed the necessity of joint action to face annihilating acts by “Iran’s arms.” The cabinet also valued condemnations by sisterly, friendly states, international and regional organizations of the hostile bid to target passengers and workers at Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia. This hostile attempt was tantamount to a breach of the international law, a war crime perpetrated by the Iran-backed Houthi militias that have adamantly neglected calls for peace. The official statement also noted the kingdom’s resolve to reach a political full scale solution to the Yemeni question according to the three references; the Gulf initiative, the national dialogue and the Security Council resolution 2216. It also affirmed commitment to secure humanitarian aid for the Yemeni people and reconstruct the country.
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