Saudi seeks to preserve dynasty by Israel alliance

Former UN rapporteur in Palestinian human rights, Richard Falk says the Saudi alliance with Israel has come out of a premeditated decision within the current political geography in the region, adding Saudi Arabia actually seeks to reserve its dynastic regime by making alliance with Israel.

Richard Falk also told the Qods News Agency (Qodsna) Palestinians were the true winners of the past summer genocidal war on Gaza as Israel could not materialize any of its stated goals before invading Gaza.

The full text of the interview follows.

Qodsna: Why Saudi Arabia instead of helping Palestinian people and solving regional problem, has allied with Israel and also supports terrorist groups in the region?

Falk: It seems like a coldly calculated decision of regional geopolitics. Saudi priorities are dominated by safeguarding their dynastic regime, and their perception that it is endangered by sectarian and democratizing developments throughout the Middle East.

Encouraging the Sisi-led coup against the Morsi government associated with the Muslim Brotherhood illustrates this approach as does Saudi involvement in the Syrian Civil War, and most of all, its belligerent response to Iran. In this sense, Israel as the main enemy of their enemy is a useful friend, and when it fights Hamas, as with Egypt, it is fighting against the sort of political Islam that it finds threatening.

I recall more than twenty years ago at a private dinner of the Editorial Board of Foreign Policy where Shimon Peres was the guest, and indicated it would make great strategic sense in the region for Saudi Arabia to enter a strategic alliance with Israel, and both with the United States. 

Qodsna:  In the anniversary of last summer's Gaza War , we see that despite the high toll of Palestinians, in the public opinion Israel is considered as defeated and Palestinians are deemed as victorious. what is your opinion about this reality?

Falk: It all depends on expectations. Israel expected that the Protective Edge attack was about ending the security threat posed by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

When the war ended with devastation and huge civilian casualties on the Palestinian side, but Hamas still firmly in control of the government and more popular than before the massive attack, including in the West Bank, Israelis on the right felt disappointed by the outcome, and felt correctly that Palestine ‘won’ the war as it was really about Hamas as a political actor and about the IDF as a military force that not only overwhelms on the battlefield but controls the political outcome.

Since the latter failed to occur, the operation seems a failure. This result was reinforced by the loss of 67 Israeli combat soldiers, indicating a significant combat setback for the IDF and tribute to the fighting skills of Hamas militias despite their inferiority in military equipment.

Qodsna: What is the reason of the Israel's latest attacks on Syria? Do you think that these attacks are related to supporting terrorist groups in Syria?

Falk: I am not sure how to interpret these Israeli attacks in Syria. It may be consistent with the basic policy of Israel throughout the region to cause as much internal strife as possible. The purpose of such a tactic is to discourage all states in the region from any temptation to challenge Israel.

It reflects a grand strategy of ‘regional fragmentation.’ Among the justifications for such an approach is that it diverts attention from the Palestinian struggle, allowing Israel to move forward with settlement expansion and the imposition of an apartheid structure on the occupied Palestinian people, subject to prolonged occupation with no end in sight.