In an interview with Fox this week, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that the struggle he waged against the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran was the basis for the strategic ties between Israel and the Sunni states that gave birth to the Abrahamic agreements.
The Arabs viewed Israel as waging a stubborn struggle to prevent an agreement that endangered them no less than Israel, and understood that Israel is the most powerful and credible ally they have.
On a cursory note, the summit of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Emirate Heir Muhammad bin Zayed was a direct continuation of the Abrahamic Accords. Biden, of course the Arabs will want to strengthen ties with Jerusalem.
But there are good reasons to be concerned about the meeting in Sharm.
The source of concern is the form of tribal thinking of the Arab world.
In an article published in the Jewish News Agency JNS this week, the Orientalist Dr. David Wormser explained that in the Arab view, the struggle between the Sunnis and the Iranian regime is a bloody conflict between tribes.
In the Arab view, the administration's pro-Iranian policy, which gives legitimacy to Iran's nuclear project in addition to the resources needed to conduct a regional war, is akin to the betrayal of the "Americans" ("Americans", American tribe) by the Saudi, Emirati and Jewish tribes (Israel).
In this situation, in the eyes of the Saudis and the Emirates, there are three alternatives, according to David Wormser: to be wiped out by Iran;
To bow to the Iranians and reach peace at the expense of another tribe - say, Israel;
Or replace the US with Israel.
Wormser explained that in a state of American abandonment, Israel has only one alternative - to take on the strong horse status that Washington had.
After all, Iran, for its part, does not intend to let us go, and we have no desire to become extinct.
This is the reality in which the summit took place in Sharm.
The big security illusion
According to media reports, the main issue discussed there was Ben-Zayed's desire to restore Arab League relations with the Assad regime in Syria.
The initiative was presented as a means to drive a wedge between Assad and Iran.
But this is a misconception.
Both Ben Zayed and his partner, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, understand that Assad is not an independent actor.
He's a puppet of Iran.
Assad has neither a regime nor an existence that is independent of the regime in Tehran.
Ben Zayed's initiative is cynical and clever.
He knows that generations of IDF generals and left-wing politicians have fantasized that Assad - the father, the son and the security spirit - can be separated from Iran through an Israeli relinquishment of the Golan Heights. Israel in the Golan Heights in 2019.
Since Biden and his team replaced the Trump administration, the Saudis and emirates have been taking cautious steps toward Tehran to explore the possibility of a separate peace with the new powerful tribe.
This is the context in which Ben-Zayed's attempt to persuade Bennett to back up his move against Assad must be examined.
Ben-Zayed's dubious initiative comes at a time when Israel's security leadership is having a hard time grasping the danger.
The top security officials, who have erred throughout the years regarding the Assad dynasty, now control the government's security policy.
And as signs of a lack of learning among members of the security establishment, according to media reports, Bennett and his team's reaction to Ben Zayed's proposal was positive.
The only reservation to Israeli support for Ben-Zayed's initiative was the US administration's apparent opposition to the move.
Bennett again mediates
But there is another serious problem.
Not only do Bennett and his people apparently do not understand the thinking of the Arabs, they do not really understand the policy of the Biden administration vis-à-vis Iran.
Netanyahu saw the Obama administration's pro-Iranian policy (which is a direct continuation of the Biden administration) as seen by the Arabs - as abandonment and betrayal.
It was this view of Netanyahu that led him to fight Obama's agreement with all his might, and in the process succeeded in convincing the Arabs that Israel could play a leading, strong and credible role in the region.
Bennett, Lapid and Gantz do not see reality like the Arabs and Netanyahu.
They do not see Biden's policy as abandonment or betrayal, but as a routine controversy.
Worse: Bennett, Lapid and Gantz dropped the ground under the struggle over the nuclear deal when they said Netanyahu was wrong in convincing Trump to abandon the deal.
The current protest by Bennett and his associates against the administration's intention to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations misses the point.
After all, the main problem is the agreement, which paved the way for Iran to have a nuclear arsenal and regional hegemony.
If the Revolutionary Guards remain on the list of terrorist organizations, the "achievement" of Bennett, Lapid and Gantz will not diminish the significance of the betrayal and will not diminish the existential danger of the agreement for Israel.
The reports that Bennett mediates between the emirates and the Saudis and the administration are a sign of his opacity to the strategic reality in which he operates vis-à-vis the Arabs and vis-à-vis Washington alike.
The heirs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates refuse to meet or talk to government officials because they understand that Biden and his men have abandoned them.
If the Americans want to rebuild relations, Washington must change direction.
Bennett demonstrates opacity to their problem - which is also ours - when he acts as a lobbyist of a hostile administration.
In doing so, he cools their interest in forging a regional alliance with Israel against Iran, and strengthens Tehran's cards against the Arabs.
Bennett argued this week that there is no point in waging a fight against the nuclear deal because it is already a finished story.
Another mistake.
The Biden government is less powerful than the Ob t government and quite a few Democrats oppose the agreement.
The struggle is not lost in advance.
And what if the struggle is lost?
Israel will benefit from it in any case.
A serious and credible Israeli struggle will mobilize Israel's supporters against Biden's policy.
He will also show seriousness and power in the eyes of the Arabs at the critical moment when they are faced with a choice between Iran and us.
Loyalty or turning one's back on Jews and discussing Iran.
There is a possibility that in 2025 a Republican government will rise up and work to rehabilitate the US position in the Middle East. But Israel can not build on that.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
