Middle East Update

Roula Khalaf (Financial Times-UK)
While Saudi officials played down the wave of criticism provoked by the first Saudi royal visit to Britain in 20 years, the Saudis were, in the words of one former British diplomat, “under considerable shock” as they faced the most intense wave of disapproval received by the king on a foreign [...]

Youssef IbrahimSaudi Arabia has become a world-class exporter of Islamist violence. Well over 3,000 Saudi citizens roaming the world - and just as many schemers actively involved at home - are managing terrorist networks and planning and executing suicide bombings and jihadist attacks that span the globe. More than 1,000 Saudis are currently training in [...]

Both the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian governments denied entry recently to Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas office in Damascus, saying the Islamist faction Hamas must first reverse its coup in Gaza, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda reported on Friday. Saudi Arabia is alledgedly outraged with both Hamas and Fatah for their lack of adherence to [...]

Amir Oren
The IDF senior command held a workshop this week , August 22, on the army’s five-year plan. The IDF will be preparing for the following scenarios in the next five years: thwarting the danger of a hostile country that does not border on Israel achieving nuclear capability (Iran, in particular), a war with Syria, [...]

A number of Arab countries have recently accelerated their nuclear programs in response to Iran’s renegade nuclear quest, claiming they are pursuing the ‘peaceful’ atom. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, and Egypt all have nuclear programs at different stages of development, even though the region has huge oil reserves to produce cheap [...]

After signing a $30-billion, 10-year, no strings attached military aid package this week, the US and Israel are discussing how to maintain Israel’s qualitative edge over an array of potential enemies. Since the US also promised $20-billion to Saudi Arabia and five other Arab Gulf States, the discussions will not only cover Israel’s projected [...]

Richard Beeston
Saudi Arabia and Egypt are putting the final touches to an ambitious project to span the Gulf of Aqaba, creating a direct link between Africa and Arabia. King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch, is expected to lay the foundation stone for the causeway when he visits the northern province of Tabuk next week. The project [...]

A package of $250 million of Saudi money - equivalent to some six weeks of the PA’s basic funding needs - will start arriving soon, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday May 1.

Saudi Arabia insisted April 3, that direct talks with Israeli P M Ehud Olmert would only be possible after Israel accepts the Arab peace initiative. Olmert recently called for a summit with the Saudis in order to discuss the peace process, following an Arab League decision to re-launch a 2002 peace initiative that [...]

‘Escalation’ possible if Israel rejects Arab League conditions
The “lords of war” will decide Israel’s future if it rejects a plan crafted by the entire Arab world, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister warned Tuesday March 27, as leaders began gathering in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for Wednesday’s Arab League summit.