BICOM

During a meeting yesterday in Jerusalem, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz discussed the possibility of security cooperation between Israel and the Gulf states.

Dempsey is quoted in the New York Times saying that he and Gantz discussed “outreach to other partners who may not have been willing to be partners in the past,” specifying, “What I mean is the Gulf states in particular, who heretofore may not have been as open-minded to the potential for cooperation with Israel, in any way.” Although Dempsey did not give details of possible future cooperation, an unnamed American military official said it included intelligence sharing and joint counter-terrorism exercises.

Gantz commented more generally that, “World jihadists are not fighting only against Israel.” It is thought that many Gulf states, which are largely Sunni dominated, share Israel’s concerns over Shi’ite Iran’s nuclear ambitions and military strength in the region through proxies such as Hezbollah. However, Qatar has also become a significant financial supporter of the Hamas authority in the Gaza Strip. Israel has no official diplomatic relations with the Gulf states although Israel’s Infrastructure Minister Silvan Shalom attended a renewable energy conference in United Arab Emirates in January.

During a press conference yesterday, Gantz thanked Dempsey for being “true friend of the State of Israel and the IDF” and said military relations between the two countries are “steadier than ever.” Both were asked whether they had the capability to halt Iran’s nuclear programme. Although neither gave a direct answer, Gantz said “Obviously we will keep our capabilities to ourselves, but we do emphasize that the capability is very much there,” while Dempsey said that US President Obama has said he will not permit Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and, “My role … is to make sure that I provide him [President Obama] with the military options necessary to live up to that commitment, and we will.”