Israeli Newspaper Reacts to Mecca Defense Pact, Cites Strategic Shift
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, the Hebrew newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that the joint defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan could shift the strategic balance in the Middle East.
One day after the agreement was announced, Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, called for the formation of a unified military front against the Israeli regime, describing it as a threat to the entire Islamic world. Saudi Arabia must realize that defense cooperation with countries whose senior officials identify the Israeli regime as a regional enemy will undoubtedly cast a shadow over the normalization of relations.
The report indicated that the Israeli regime’s interests lie in accelerating efforts to integrate Saudi Arabia into a U.S.-led regional security structure, one that would encompass both the Israeli regime and Arab nations.
The Jerusalem Post also wrote that Washington must pay special attention to what transpired in Mecca, as an old American partner has turned to Ankara and Islamabad, which possess nuclear weapons, for greater security guarantees. This issue serves as a warning about declining confidence in U.S. security assurances.
According to the report, the United States must ask itself why one of its most important Arab partners feels the need to seek an alternative security structure and how to prevent this structure from moving towards a clearly anti-Israeli regime approach.
