Would KSA relaunch an updated version of The Arab Peace Initiative?

On February 2, Israel’s massive U.S.-led Naval Exercise was operating over the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Northern Indian Ocean, covering the maritime belt surrounding the Arabian Gulf States.

The international-themed exercise, which is involving 60 countries, has been performed amid escalating tensions in the Gulf region following rocket attacks on the UAE by the Iran-supported Yemeni Houthi group, as the latest foiled, targeting the Al-Dafara base that hosts U.S. forces.

Remarkably, the operation was joined by Saudi Arabia and Oman Naval forces for the first time along with an Israeli force These two countries do not have diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, while Israel maintains full normalization relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Israel shares with the Gulf States a deep sense of imminent Iranian threat. The threat has turned into a direct military offensive to repel Houthi’s attacks targeting the Kingdom and the UAE.

While Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, arrived in Bahrain that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, a security cooperation agreement was signed with Manama with no specific details.

Qatar and Kuwait did not have diplomatic relations with Israel; they both refrained from participating in those maneuvers.

On the other hand, these maneuvers created a precedent event. The fact that Saudi Arabia participated alongside Israel, despite the KSA not proceeding towards full normalization with Israel similar to the explicit normalization between the UAE and Bahrain, is unique and unprecedented.

This unprecedented event opens a solid possibility to initiate an active diplomatic move towards reviving the Arab Peace Initiative launched by the Kingdom in 2004, in its broader spirit, adding some amendments considering the new conditions on the ground and the regional status-quo.

This move- if happened- would be a historical opportunity, especially after the signing of the Abraham Accords.

We extend the hope that the Arab Peace Initiative would be soon re-initiated as the timing could not be more convenient.