Obama's new ME Peace? Gulf state officials secretly approach Israel on strategies to stop Iran

GERTZ - WASHINGTON -- Gulf Arab states share Israel's concern about the pro-Iranian shift by the United States, Israeli officials said.

The officials reported initiatives by several of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states to discuss strategy toward Iran amid the new U.S. dialogue by President Barack Obama. They said GCC representatives expressed deep concern that Obama's new policy would ensure Iranian dominance in the Gulf region.

"We don't know if the U.S. administration will be assertive enough, and if Iran goes nuclear it's going to be hell for all of us," a senior Israeli official quoted a GCC representative as saying.

An anti-aircraft gun at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. AFP/Behrouz Mehri

Michael Herzog, chief of staff to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said he has been approached by GCC and other Arab officials regarding Iran. Herzog, a reserve brigadier general in the intelligence corps, recalled a meeting with a "very prominent figure" from an unidentified GCC state.

"'We are on the same side," Herzog quoted the GCC official as saying. '"We feel threatened by the Iranian nuclear projects, by their political ambitions, by their subversion and so on. And frankly,' he said, 'we are skeptical of whether Iran could be stopped.'"

Herzog reported similar conversations with officials in Egypt, Jordan and North African states. He said all of them sought talks with Israel regarding the Iranian threat.

"The No. 1 topic that comes up is Iran," Herzog told a May 7 briefing at the Washington Institute. "They are scared by the Iranian projects and ambitions. They are willing to do a lot in order to stop it. They don't know exactly what. They are skeptical -- some of them -- of whether Iran could be stopped."

Other Israelis with contacts in the Middle East agreed. Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said Arab allies of the United States were preparing to cooperate with Israel to stop Iran.

"It is hard to believe that the State Department does not understand that the moderate Arab states will cooperate to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb regardless of the Palestinian issue," Inbar said. "The Iranian threat dwarfs any potential repercussions of an impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian track."

Inbar said moderate Arab states have concluded that Iran was bolstering Hamas and Hizbullah to destabilize the region. He said Arab leaders have become alarmed by Hamas's military buildup in the Gaza Strip.

"The struggle against Hamas, just as the quest to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, serves American interests and those of its allies in the Middle East. It is only marginally related to Israel," Inbar said. "Unfortunately, Obama's Washington does not get it yet."

Officials said the biggest change in attitude has been that of Egypt. They said Egypt, which sees Hamas as a threat, did not try to disrupt the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in January 2009.

"They basically, without saying so, gave us a free hand and wished that we would crush Hamas," Herzog said. "By the way, many of our neighbors privately used to tell us, 'Why don't you destroy Hamas,' while, of course, publicly condemning us."

Herzog said the GCC has been divided over Iran. He said Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have sought partners to counter Iran while Qatar was seeking an alliance with Teheran.

"We once were told by a Qatar leader," Herzog recalled. "He said, 'Look, Iran is like a few dozen meters from our shore. I have to take that into consideration. That's why I behave the way I behave.'"