Israel does not want a stable Middle East

14/05/2026

The region’s turmoil is not only about Iran’s nuclear program, nor merely about sabotaged Omani mediation efforts by Israeli calculations. That is a far simpler interpretation. The real issue is the kind of Middle East Israel wants to reshape.

Despite its public narrative, Israel is not pursuing a genuinely stable regional order. It is creating an environment that guarantees overwhelming Israeli military, technological, economic, and political superiority at the expense of Gulf stability and long-term regional development. I do not write this to provoke, nor to indulge in conspiracy or ideological hostility. I write it because Gulf security requires intellectual honesty. Criticizing Israel’s regional conduct is not hostility toward the United States, nor is it a rejection of diplomacy. It is a refusal to ignore a pattern that is becoming increasingly costly for the region.

Some may find this argument uncomfortable. But serious policy analysis cannot be built around avoiding discomfort. Anyone observing Israeli behavior across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and even toward states that normalized relations with it, will struggle to honestly describe this as a project built around regional stability. Whenever the region seems to move toward de-escalation, economic openness, or strategic independence, new tensions suddenly emerge that drag it back toward fear, militarization, and dependency.

This matters because countries consumed by war, threats, and perpetual escalation do not become independent economic powers. They do not develop strategic autonomy. They do not emerge as global centers for logistics, tourism, finance, technology, or political influence. Such a stalled transition aligns with Israeli strategic interests. This is why Gulf states must approach inflammatory narratives, rushed accusations, suspicious incidents, and manufactured psychological pressure campaigns with extreme caution.

Modern wars begin by shaping public psychology until escalation appears inevitable. And perhaps the clearest lesson of recent years is this: proximity to Israel has not guaranteed protection for anyone, not for those who normalized relations openly, nor for those who quietly opened doors behind the scenes. Some truths are uncomfortable. That does not make them any less true.

By Abdulaziz Al-Hajeri