Addressing regional concerns

Despite an exchange of  outward pleasantries between Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and visiting US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter on bilateral relations, Israel and the US remain deeply divided on the deal struck last week between the P5+1 group and Iran on the latter’s nuclear programme. 

Carter made the trip to Tel Aviv specifically to allay Israeli fears and reaffirm — during press conference held on Monday with Yaalon — that Israel’s “security and qualitative military edge are a top priority for America, for our military and for me personally”. 

Carter went on to say that the US pledge to defend Israel remains rock solid and the alliance has never been stronger.  

Carter sought to address Israeli concerns that Washington was shifting its focus in the region, saying Israel was “a cornerstone of our strategy in the Middle East”. 

The Israeli defence minister acknowledged that “there is no greater friend of the state of Israel than the United States of America, who provide us our strategic backbone,” but insisted nevertheless that his country “greatly disagrees” with the nuclear deal. Yaalon also said that Israel “fears for the future in the aftermath of its signing.”  

“Friends can disagree about whether [the Iran deal] will work, and we’ll be watching Iran very closely to see, but there’s no disagreement about the ultimate objective. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Carter told reporters. 

The joint press conference, though, is one thing and what transpired between the two sides behind closed doors is quite another story. 

For one thing, Israeli officials went out of their way to describe the great dangers Israel faces in the region after Daesh’s rise to power in Syria and Iraq and persisted in portraying the Middle East as a “lawless” area of the world that requires maximum Israeli vigilance and military preparedness. 

No doubt Israel puts part of the blame on Tehran for promoting instability in the region by supporting Hamas and Hizbollah, two of its archenemies. 

Carter, who also visited Jordan and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday, heard another side of the story and will accordingly make the right recommendations to US President Barack Obama after his regional tour.  

The Iran agreement is seen as a major shift in US Mideast policy, and the Arab allies of the US certainly need to be equally reassured by Washington.

The US needs also to be reminded of the centrality of the Palestinian issue and of the need to find a just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which continues to be a destabilising force and radicalising element, not only in the region but also around the world.