Arab NATO not on the table for now, but US-Arab-Israeli air defense cooperation possible

The latest intensive visits and tours of Middle East countries by regional leaders ahead of US President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have solidified the idea of establishing an Arab NATO against Iran. However, such a proposal is not currently on the table, according to the Egyptian and Jordanian governments, although there are US and Israeli talks about integrating Arab countries and Israel in an air defense alliance with the United States.

The White House announced earlier that President Biden would embark on a tour of the Middle East that will include Israel and Saudi Arabia, where he will attend a summit for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with Egypt, Jordan and Iraq in mid-July. In preparation for this Arab-US summit, the leaders of Arab countries have made several visits in the region. For instance, this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman made official visits to Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held a tripartite meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in Sharm El-Sheikh. Meanwhile, for the first time in seven years, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad paid Egypt an official visit. In addition to this, Sisi made official visits to the Sultanate of Oman and then to Bahrain.

The intensive diplomatic moves enhanced the idea of building an intergovernmental military alliance for Arab countries similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The idea was enhanced by remarks given by Jordanian King Abdullah II in an interview with CNBC International TV on June 24, as he said, “The relationship with NATO is extremely especial. We are fighting shoulder to shoulder and have been for decades. I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO, but the linkages to the rest of the world and how we fit in, so the mission statement has to be very, very clear. Otherwise, it confuses everybody.”

However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in an interview with Al Jazeera TV on June 28, during his visit to Qatar to deliver a message from King Abdullah to the Qatari Emir on the preparation for the Biden visit, that the Jordanian King was talking about a notion of a NATO for the Arab countries but not an expansion of the current NATO. “Jordan supports any proposal to launch a systematic Arab institutional action mechanism capable of facing common defense, security and economic challenges,” he said.

He denied that any proposal of the idea of building a military and security alliance would be discussed during Biden’s visit. He said that there is no proposal about a US push for creating a military alliance that includes Israel in light of Biden’s visit to Israel, adding that the region is in need of a mechanism for Arab action to face the economic and security challenges the region is facing following the coronavirus pandemic and the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Similarly, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry replied to a question on the potential of establishing an Arab NATO during a press conference with his Bahraini counterpart in Manama on June 29, saying that this matter is not on the table at the present time. He added that the joint Arab capabilities are able to protect the Arab national security interests from any interference or threats from outside the regional space of the Arab countries, Al Ayam newspaper reported.

“For the possibility of establishing a military alliance is not closely discussed at this stage, or linked to any events. We always promote common Arab security,” Shoukry said.

Hassan Abu Talib, an advisor to the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), said in an opinion article on June 26, “The chances of success [of such a NATO alliance] are full of obstacles and difficulties. There are two main reasons for the failure to pass such a project, which could explode the region as a whole. Firstly, the involvement of Saudi Arabia in a major military structure as depicted by Israel, and without relations and mutual recognition, seems very unlikely, especially since Riyadh links normalization with Israel to the establishment of a Palestinian state first. The second is that [some] Arab countries [that] will participate in the Jeddah summit, specifically Egypt and Iraq, […] have their declared positions and refuse to engage in any expanded military alliances.” 

If the idea of building a military alliance among Arab countries similar to NATO is not up for discussion right now, a military air defense cooperation that includes Israel is potential. Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz was reported as saying by The Times of Israel on June 27, “We are building our wide partnership with additional countries in the region to ensure a secure, stable and prosperous Middle East. Among other things, this also includes aerial defense.”

A US-Israeli-Arab air defense cooperation has been called for by a group of bipartisan lawmakers in the US Congress on June 9, who introduced a bill to integrate Middle East partners “as global threats from Iran and Iranian-backed extremists continue to rise,” according to a statement issued by the group.

According to the US Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses (DEFEND) Act, the United States would “unite” with Arab countries especially “to develop a strategy for Abraham Accords and other countries to combat Iranian aggression threatening peace and security in the Middle East.”

On June 13, President Biden revealed that his Middle East tour and the Jeddah summit would tackle the issue of national security for Israel.

Also, an unannounced meeting for the military chiefs of staff of Israel and Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain) was held in March in Sharm El-Sheikh, under the auspices of the United States, to discuss ways of deterring Iran, reported the Wall Street Journal on June 26.

The Arab-US-Israeli air defense cooperation has been seen as Israeli “propaganda” under the pretext of defending Gulf security from Iran’s threat to “consolidate the goal of strengthening [Israel’s] position as a major state in the region without making any concessions on the Palestinian issue,” said Abu Talib.