By Yossi Schwartz, ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 13 March 2023, https://the-isleague.com and www.thecommunists.net

 

For many years the strategy of the USA and Israel has been to build a military alliance between Israel and the kingdoms in the Persian Gulf, in addition to Jordan and to Egypt under the Al-Sisi dictatorship. This alliance operates against Iran to replace the Ayatollahs' regime with the son of the Shah, who should serve the U.S. and Israel’s imperialism. This military alliance has been called Abraham Accords.

 

Abraham Accords

 

The Abraham Accords are a series of treaties normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, facilitated by the U.S. Administration in 2020. It began with the official agreement between the Zionist state and the UAE, which in the past participated in the boycott against the Zionist apartheid by the Arab League. The secret relations between Israel and the UAE began even before Israel opened a diplomatic office in 2015. Mossad chief Yossi Cohen secretly visited the UAE. As part of the accord the U.S. agreed to sell the most advanced aircraft, the F-35 warplanes, to UAE.

 

Saudi Arabia that states to support the two states solution has not joined the accords: “According to Bloomberg, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in 2021 that the Kingdom has “no current intention to join the [Abraham] Accords. … The best way to build on that spirit is to find a path to solving the issue of the Palestinians and finding a path to a Palestinian state. … Without solving the Palestinian-Israel conflict, we’re not going to have real, sustainable security in the region.” [1]

 

Consequently, Apartheid State Israel most likely utilized its influences towards the U.S. government to block a sale of the same Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh would need a major military advantage in the Gulf and its war in Yemen which is exactly what the jets would provide. Also, the public image of Saudi Arabia in the United States Congress has suffered after the cruel murder of Jamal Khashoggi which received attention in 2018.

 

Diplomatic Renewal between Iran and Saudi-Arabia

 

The 10th of March 2023 became a historic day as Saudi Arabia and Iran announced to restore diplomatic relations under China’s mediation. Both the successful strategy of trade and advancement of technology have helped imperialist China to grow enormously in the region. In combination with the decline of Western imperialism, it has given China the power to make diplomatic deals.

 

"While the breakthrough announced on Friday took many observers by surprise, Saudi and Iranian intelligence chiefs have been meeting in Iraq in recent years to discuss regional security." [2]

 

The Middle East is a crucial source for Oil on which China relies, making it a strategic task for them to establish certain stability. At the same time China as an imperialist state wants more economic and political control of the region.

"Iran depends overwhelmingly on China for manufactured goods, including weapons and especially missile technology. Beijing’s leverage over Tehran is thus enormous. Although China formally opposes Western sanctions on Iran, the sanctions regime gives China a near monopoly on key Iranian imports." [3]

 

A Set-Back for USA

 

Like other events of the recent past, the lack of any significant influence by the former Western imperialist hegemon USA in the process of the diplomatic negotiations reflects its loosened grip over relevant parts of the world.

 

"The Iranian official press crowed about the excision of America from this decision, which was a solely “Asian” one, it said. The US, the article announced, is no longer the “Godfather” of diplomatic relations in West Asia (i.e. the Middle East)." [4]

 

It is not by chance that at the same time, China's influence is growing in "West Asia" while the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, which again reflects the deep crisis of U.S. imperialism.

 

"Silicon Valley Bank which was known as the 1st largest bank and it also plays its part for lending money to the biggest technology startups collapsed last Friday after defrauding all its investors and depositors. The impact of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse was that there was a huge recession in the global markets as well. The Silicon Valley Bank which is based in California became one of the biggest bank failures after the 2008 financial crisis and barely 2 days after the announcement was made, it saw a sharp drop in deposits resulting in Share sales began to be organized, resulting in both investors and customers jumping off the sinking ship upon hearing the news of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse." [5]

 

Unsurprisingly, the recent efforts of the United States to pressure the European imperialists to subordinate under American strategy took their full attention. While the U.S. imperialist struggled with decisions during the secret operations on the sabotage of the Nordstream pipeline and the recent public attention drawn to it by Seymour Hersh, China had its policy stroke.

 

“Renewed Iran-Saudi ties as a result of Chinese mediation is a lose, lose, lose for American interests,”said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank that supports tough policies toward Iran and China.He said it showed that Saudi Arabia lacks trust in Washington, that Iran could peel away U.S. allies to ease its isolation and that China “is becoming the major-domo of Middle Eastern power politics.” [6]

 

A Set-Back for Israel

 

It is also not by chance that the diplomatic deal by China is taking place when the Zionist state is facing the biggest crisis in its history. This Saturday half a million Israelis demonstrated against Netanyahu's government. The right-wing government provoked outrage that even included some fighter pilots, probably the most elite part of the Israeli army. The liberal Zionist forces believe to defend democracy against a right-wing attempt to give the ruling coalition power over parliamentary structures like the Supreme court. In reality, Israel was never a democracy to begin with. It was always an ethnocracy.

 

“But the more sinister and dangerous ramification of such compromise lies in it focusing on Israel’s liberal democracy for the Jews while ignoring its tyranny towards the Palestinians. In fact, reaching any sort of compromise on domestic affairs is sure to free the government’s hand to widen its oppression, deepen its occupation and multiply its illegal settlement.

 

Why?

 

Because neither the protesters nor the former generals and the current ranking military clamoring to lead them have shown any interest in reversing or curtailing the government’s expansionist and segregationist policies in Palestine. They don’t or won’t recognize the synergy between the expanding appeal of Jewish supremacy and the sprawling apartheid in Palestine they helped create.

 

That’s hypocritical and dangerous. As some among the earlier generation of security and intelligence chiefs recognized a dozen years ago, Israel has no security solutions in Palestine. And as highlighted by former Intelligence Service chief Ami Ayalon in his biography, Friendly Fire, because of its occupation, Israel’s democracy will devolve into tyranny. “ [7]

 

No wonder that both sides of the Zionist camps blame each other for the Iranian-Saudi-Arabia renewal of the diplomatic agreement that may begin the end of the Abraham Accords.

 

"Among some Israeli politicians, the announcement provoked introspection about their country’s internal divisions. Some said the re-establishment of Saudi-Iranian ties highlighted how domestic turmoil risked distracting the government from more urgent concerns, such as Iran". [8]

 

The new reality for the relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been expressed in Saudi- Arabia’s recent "refusal to issue visas for an Israeli delegation to a UN event honoring spots picked as the world’s top rural tourist destinations for 2022, drawing frustrated reactions Sunday from Israeli officials." [9]

 

One can not emphasize enough how significant the shifts are for the further sharpening of the current inter-imperialist rivalry. In case of the Middle East, the deep crisis of Western imperialism is tangible. The weakening of the USA and the Zionist state may also lead to a new Arab Spring that is maybe going to have its origin in Tunisia, when further protests and uprisings against the dictator Said occur. This very fear of the local ruling classes in Iran and Saudi Arabia that the might face revolutions soon enough, may be another reason for the diplomatic renewal of relations between the two butchers of people.

 

 

 

 

Footnotes:

 

[1] Will Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords? At the moment, it’s unlikely, but closer ties are possible. By Dr. Eric R. Mandel, November 2, 2022, https://www.jns.org/opinion/will-saudi-arabia-join-the-abraham-accords/

 

[2] Answers to 7 Key Questions on the Saudi-Iran Deal. The regional rivals have agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties in an agreement brokered by China that could reverberate across the Middle East and beyond. By Ben Hubbard and Shashank Bengali, March 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-iran-deal-explained.html

 

[3] China’s soft power shapes a Pax Sinica in Middle East Beijing brokers surprise Saudi-Iran diplomatic deal backed by trade and tech infrastructure. By Spengler, March 12, 2023, https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/chinas-soft-power-forging-peace-in-middle-east/

 

[4] s China the New Indispensable Nation? Beijing Brokers Iran-Saudi Relations as U.S. and Israel are Sidelined. By Juan Cole, March 12, 2023, https://www.juancole.com/2023/03/indispensable-relations-sidelined.html

 

[5] Silicon Valley Bank Collapse, Latest News, How SVB Crisis Unfolded. By Shashi, March 13, 2023, https://urbanaffairskerala.org/silicon-valley-bank-collapse/

 

[6] Answers to 7 Key Questions on the Saudi-Iran Deal. The regional rivals have agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties in an agreement brokered by China that could reverberate across the Middle East and beyond. By Ben Hubbard and Shashank Bengali, March 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-iran-deal-explained.html

 

[7] Turmoil in Israel, trepidation in Palestine. The ruling fascists are working to unleash greater state and settler violence on the Palestinians and, in the process, are transforming Israel into a fascist garrison. By Marwan Bishara, March 10, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/10/turmoil-in-israel-trepidation-in

 

[8] Answers to 7 Key Questions on the Saudi-Iran Deal. The regional rivals have agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties in an agreement brokered by China that could reverberate across the Middle East and beyond. By Ben Hubbard and Shashank Bengali, March 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-iran-deal-explained.html

 

[9] Israel expresses frustration as delegation is barred from UN event in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh failed to issue visas to residents of Kfar Kama, a Circassian Muslim town picked as global ‘tourist village’; Tourism Ministry accuses UN of failing to meet own standards. By ToI Staff and Lazar Berman, March 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-expresses-frustration-as-delegation-is-barred-from-un-event-in-saudi-arabia/