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Opinion | The IDF took the opportunity - and attacked quality targets | Israel Today

2022-07-16T20:27:25.558Z


The defense establishment is concerned that for the second time in a month, Ashkelon residents were required to enter protected areas.


Anyone who expected a dramatic breakthrough in Israeli-Saudi relations during President Biden's visit to the kingdom was disappointed, as expected.

The Saudis are not yet ripe for far-reaching moves, and are progressing slowly.

On the face of it, they are also maintaining their regular policy in recent years: progress between the countries will be achieved only after the implementation of the "Saudi initiative", which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital East Jerusalem.

But behind this official position is another Saudi.

One overt evidence of this is the approval it gave for the passage of Israeli flights in the skies of the kingdom.

Other evidence is still behind the scenes: from senior Israeli visits to Saudi Arabia, to a long line of deals - mainly security and technology, but also in other areas.

The thaw in relations between Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will surely help this progress.

Here, too, on the face of it, the parties remained theirs: Biden briefed that he had covered in MBS the murder of journalist Jamal Hashukaji, and the regent's men briefed that he had slapped the American president over the death of journalist Sheerin Abu Akala.

Presumably behind these official versions the atmosphere was much more productive.

The United States has an interest in Saudi Arabia significantly increasing its oil production to help lower its world price, and the Saudis have an interest in thawing relations with Washington.

Israel, for them, is an essential bridge to the American ear, and a key player in regional stability.

The two countries - along with most of the countries in the region, whose leaders participated in the summit yesterday with Biden - will try to advance the common axis against the hostile elements in the region, led by Iran.

While Saudi Arabia is careful to maintain its ties with Israel in secret, the "Abrahamic Agreements" countries continue to pour content into them.

Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi's visit to Morocco is another step in the tightening security relations between the two countries.

And while the political-security system is preoccupied with regional strategy, it is, as always, dragged into the local arena.

The four rockets fired on Saturday night from Gaza were a reminder that the Palestinians are not going anywhere.

It seems that Hamas was not behind the shooting - neither directly nor in disguise - but the defense establishment is concerned that for the second time in a month, Ashkelon residents were required to enter protected areas. The motives for the shooting were not clear last night.

Some link them to the disappointment in the Palestinian arena with a visit to Biden, although the tendency in the IDF is to link it to the relative anarchy that prevails in the Gaza Strip and the multiplicity of weapons in it. If the second reason is correct,

As part of the regular policy since Operation Wall Guard, the IDF has used the shooting to attack a Hamas quality target - in this case an underground facility for the production of raw materials for long-range rockets (and later another facility). To deter Hamas from continuing its activities and to force the organization to stop firing, to establish it as the only government address in the Gaza Strip, and to deprive it of capabilities in the field of intensification. In the Gaza Strip, and implicitly also exerting pressure on Hamas.

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Source: israelhayom

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