In his Washington Post column David Ignatius provides his rather counter-intuitive, at least to me, explanation for Israel’s restrained response to Iran’s barrage last week:
Here’s my take: Israel is behaving like the leader of a regional coalition against Iran. In its measured response, it appeared to be weighing the interests of its allies in this coalition — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan — which all provided quiet help in last weekend’s shoot-down. It’s playing the long game, in other words.
This would amount to a paradigm shift for Israel. Rather than seeing itself as the embattled Jewish state fighting alone for its survival against a phalanx of Arab and Muslim enemies, Israel knows that it has allies. Top of the list, as always, is the United States. But America is joined by Arab states that oppose Iran and its proxies as much as the Israelis do.
Is he right or is that just a vivid imagination? I have no idea. I guess time will tell.
What I found interesting was the participation of Jordan and, perhaps, Saudi Arabia in Israel’s air defense from the barrage. It stood in stark contrast to, for example, Jordan’s Queen Rania’s harsh words against Israel and “the West”. In its entirety it reminds me of the flag of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. Say one thing to pacify the “Arab street”; do another to pursue your actual interests. In its way I suppose that supports Mr. Ignatius’s speculations.
