Rufiz Hafizoglu, head of Trend Middle East Desk
During a visit to Jordan and Egypt, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu met with officials of these countries. After it, the Israeli premier said in his speech at the Israeli television that Iran's nuclear program is dangerous for the region and Israel is ready to cooperate with the Arab world to solve this problem.
The prime minister's proposal, which remained unanswered by the Egyptian officials, at the same time, became a kind of surprise to the Arabs. But it was necessary to take some steps not to irritate Iran. Therefore, the Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa officially stated that Israel presents a threat to the Arab world from the point of nuclear view, but not Iran.
"Why has the nuclear program [Iran] become the subject of debate, but nobody protests against Israel's nuclear program?" Amr Moussa asked.
At the end of his speech, the Secretary General appealed to U.S. President Obama and expressed the need to discuss the nuclear program of Israel, but not Iran, and many Arab countries are not concerned about the work carried out by Tehran to enrich uranium.
However, developments in the region suggest that many Arab countries, particularly Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, are still concerned about Iran's nuclear program and this country's policy in the region. It is no coincidence that Netanyahu's initiative to establish the Arab-Jewish anti-Iranian union was sounded during his visit to these countries.
Israel is well aware of these countries' concerns about the policies pursued by Iran in the region and, in particular, the Shiite factor.
If we look at a near past, we can see that the officials of Jordan stated about the establishment of the Middle East "Shiite crescent", which should include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, after Iraq fell under Iran's influence. The threat of the formation of the "Shiite crescent" has gained the greatest relevance with the emergence of the "Mehdi Army", which fought against the coalition forces and the United States in Iraq. In order to "calm" the "Mehdi Army ", the United States had to begin negotiations with Iran and the talks were fruitful.
The armed clash between local Shiites and government forces in Yemen in 2009 has forced the traditional Sunni Arab countries to think of the serious danger in the face of "Shiite crescent."
Shiites gained majority in the parliamentary elections in Iraq. As a result of it, Iraq which is a buffer zone between Iran and Saudi Arabia fell under Tehran's dependence. Even officials of Saudi Arabia made a proposal to deploy its troops in Iraq to protect Iraqi Sunnis.
In 2006, during the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah), one of the best-known scholars of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah ibn al- Jibrin banned not only assistance, but also prayer for Hezbollah's victory. Sunnis accepted Jibrin's "fatwa" ambiguously.
In late 2008, during Israeli operations in Gaza, a neutral stance, albeit partial of these countries gave Israel more courage in a literal sense. Many political observers believed that during "Operation Cast lead" Iran and Hezbollah would render military support to Hamas. However, Tehran and Hezbollah did not provided any assistance to Hamas apart from moral support.
The irreconcilable position of Arab countries against the Shiites is a chance for Israel, which can not be overlooked because, unlike other regions, the factor of Islam has always been more important in the Middle East.
I wonder whether the plan implemented by the Prime Minister of Israel to unite Arabs and Jews is targeted against Iran.
There are serious obstacles to the realization of this unique offer.
One of them is that Iran has great prestige among the Muslims in many areas of in the region than the Arab countries. In addition, there is a strong Shiite factor in the Arab countries, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and UAE). Saudi officials say there is small number of Shiite Muslims in the country, but the facts show the opposite of it; Shiites live in the regions rich in oil.
On the other hand, many religious leaders are unhappy with the way of governing in Saudi Arabia.
As for Egypt, no doubt, factor of Islam is a serious obstacle to the proposal of Israeli prime minister. There is Muslim Brothers in Egypt which has always been in close ties with Iran and Shiite Muslims and is the author of interfaith dialogue in Islam.
All these facts once again demonstrate that it will not be easy for Netanyahu to implement the plan regardless of how Arab countries are not related to Iran.
Referring to the fact that Israel did not offer the creation of union to Turkey, the closest ally in the Middle East, this can be attributed to the transition relations of Turkey with Israel in the passive phase after the historic speech of Erdogan, "Davos conqueror".
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