Deepening sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East – there are now regular Sunni-Shiite hostilities from Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast through Syria and into Iraq – are behind a wary but measurable realignment that has seen Sunni actors willing to engage Israel to bolster their positions or security.
Last week Kuwait sent a representative to an Israeli-led conference on entrepreneurship at the United Nations, one of several moves signaling willingness to put aside its official hostility toward Israel in order to promote priorities. The moves are hesitant, and are opposed by some corners of the country’s political establishment, but the logic is driven by security needs. Those needs, according to recent interviews with Kuwaiti parliamentarians trump other considerations:
Al-Dosari’s colleague, Nabil al-Fadhl, went so far as saying that he “loves” Israel for selling Kuwait military equipment. “If the security of Kuwait requires the purchase of Israeli equipment, I will do so, and I will love the Israelis for it. It is permitted to deal with anyone for the sake of Kuwait’s security,” argued al-Fadhl.
The legislator responded to the interviewer’s surprise and dismay at his professed willingness to trade with “Zionists,” saying: “So what? We’re talking about my country’s security. How exactly did the Muslims benefit us, when our Arab neighbor [Iraq] invaded our country? I am willing to buy equipment from Israel to protect my country from its Arab and Muslim neighbor.”
Even hard-line elements of the Syrian opposition – some of which have openly threatened to attack Israel – have made a point of publicly praising Israel for among other things providing humanitarian medical assistance to rebels injured in the Syrian conflict:
Laeth Horan’s overarching message to Israel throughout the conversation was one of nonbelligerence, surprising considering the group’s overt Islamist agenda. Analysts, however, were split over whether the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and other Sunni Free Syrian Army outfits would really bury the hatchet with Israel.
“There is nothing between us and Israel. We only have demands of Assad, even after the war,” Horan said. ”The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade has no international aspirations; we are only in conflict with the Assad regime.” He said that despite his group’s proximity to the Israeli border and the contested Golan Heights, which Israel has held since the 1967 Six Day War, there “is nothing between us and them” and wouldn’t be, “even in 10 years’ time.”…
Horan, in his conversation with The Times of Israel, went so far as to offer rare praise for Israel’s efforts to provide medical assistance for Syrians injured near the border with Israel in clashes between Assad forces and rebels. “The medical help that the refugees got from Israel is a very good thing,” he said.
[Photo: rivalius13 / Flickr]