In a move almost unthinkable only three years ago, Gulf Arab navies have held their first joint military exercise with Israeli warships, co-ordinated by the US Navy. The five-day drill in the Red Sea involved warships from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Israel and the US. It began Wednesday November 10, and included boarding, search and seizure tactics “to help ensure freedom of navigation”. US Naval Forces Central Command said the training would
“enhance interoperability between participating forces’ maritime interdiction teams”.

The exercise follows the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020, which saw the UAE and Bahrain normalise their relations with Israel. Since then, there has been an intense exchange of diplomatic, military and intelligence contacts between Israel and those Gulf states, as all parties share their concern over Iran’s activities. The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has made a public visit to Bahrain and in October the commander of the UAE’s air force arrived in Israel on his first ever such visit.
There is an ancient proverb that says,
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
This proverb is true in relation to what is happening with Israel and the Gulf Arab nations. Even though underlying their relationship is hostility they both have a shared and greater enemy – Iran. Therefore these unlikely allies have come together in a show of force in the Red Sea. Iran has recently announced its own naval exercises east of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has been not only seeking nuclear weapons and creating ever more powerful missiles – it has also been expanding its reach through proxy armies around the Middle East eg Hezbollah, Houthis, Hamas etc. The Bible said that Gulf Arab nations would be allied to Israel and that Iran would support Israel’s enemies….
Sheba, and Dedan, [Gulf Arab States] and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (Ezekiel 38:13)
Andy Walton
Download this week’s WWW
or Download as a PDF
+
Preceding
Signs of the times – “A new order in the Middle East”
+++
Related
- Blinken reiterates US’ support for Abraham Accords during meeting with India, Israel, UAE
- Thankful for Israel and the New Middle East!
- HE Omar Saif Ghobash Discusses the Abraham Accords
- Joel Rosenberg: Saudi Arabia will Join the Abraham Accords
- Unity of Three: As UAE Prepares To Celebrate Their Golden Jubilee, The Focus Will Be On The Abrahamic Family House And The Two State Solution
- Behind the Scenes of the Abraham Accords with Ambassador Friedman
- Is Saudi-Israeli Peace Possible or Will Biden Find a Way to Bungle Another Foreign Policy?
- Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Receives High Honor At Gala In New York Celebrating His Work In Creating The Abraham Accords Peace Treaty With Israel
- Iran Steals a South Korean tanker and then puts it up on e-bay
- South Korea withdraws its warship from the Strait of Hormuz.
- United.Kingdom in a trial of strength with Iran
- A Day of Setbacks At Sea And On Land For Iran
- Will renewed Strait of Hormuz tensions impact Middle East cruise sector?
- Amazing Happenings in Arab-Israeli Relations
- The Case for a No-Fly Zone over Iran
- Israel, Morocco ink defense deal after normalising ties
- Ready for us and Israel
[…] First joint naval exercise by Israel and Gulf states signals Iran worries […]
LikeLike
[…] First joint naval exercise by Israel and Gulf states signals Iran worries […]
LikeLike