American Herald Tribune | Marwa Osman: The world has been fussing lately about the recent claims by the British newspaper, The Times, which�reported�that Israel and Saudi Arabia are discussing the establishment of economic relations between them. Well newsflash, Mossad and Saudi intelligence officials meet regularly and have been doing so for decades now as several reports have openly�suggested�which depicts the �alliance� between Israel and Saudi Arabia not as a new era of pacts in the Middle East but rather a secret which is now out in the open.

That alliance has deepened since the fall of Mubarak. For KSA, Mubarak was not only a formidable ally against both Iran and Hamas; he had protected Egypt from the control of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization seen by Riyadh and other Persian Gulf states as a force of subversion throughout the Persian Gulf. Israel too cheered on General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi when he threw out Mohammad Morsi, suspended the constitution and accused Hamas of trying to destabilize Egypt. It wasn�t even a secret that Egyptian generals and Israel were in constant�contact�during the coup, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE stepped in with prodigal offers of �assistance�.

Both Mossad and Saudi intelligence convened when the former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was about to be deposed in Egypt while at the same time working hand in glove against Iran , both in preparing for an alleged Israel strike over Saudi airspace and in sabotaging the then underlying nuclear deal. There has even been a well sourced claim that the Saudis are�financing�most of Israel�s very expensive campaign against Iran.

Now what The Times brought up to the table was a report that Arab and American sources told the newspaper that the relationship between the two countries would start with small-scale cooperation, such as approval of El Al flights over the Saudi Kingdom, the entry of Israeli companies into the Persian Gulf and for the installation of direct telephone lines between the two countries.

Given the actual evidence at hand of a possible near future normalization with the Zionist entity in occupied Palestine, one question remains genuine to ask: Why does an alliance between Saudi Arabia and Israel make such an historic pact? Well, for decades both countries have had a similar feeling in their gut when they look around them: anxiety. Even their reaction was so similar one could conclude that it was made in the same decision making room. Both have been brutally aggressive against civilians under their territorial ruling like occupied Palestine and eastern Qatif province. Each felt they could only insure themselves against states bordering them by invading them like Lebanon and Yemen or by funding proxy wars and coups like Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Sudan. They have enemies or rivals in common like Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood elsewhere. And they obviously have common allies, too like the US and Britain. So it might as well just become an endorsed �peace� agreement, one that is signed with blood, Palestinian blood.

Israel and Saudi Arabia may not have diplomatic relations but the two entities have been covertly conducting diplomacy to discuss Iran over a series of five meetings since 2014. The�reveal�came from Anwar Eshki, a former Saudi general and ambassador to the U.S., and Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN. The retired Saudi general visited the Israeli entity in 2016 to allegedly �promote� the Arab Peace Initiative. That meeting not only revealed previous collaborations and meetings between both entities but also fixated their animosity towards one particular regional power, Iran. When Ishki was asked if he believed Israel to be the source of regional terrorism, Eshki said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the source of terrorism, but it does create fertile ground for acts of terrorism in the region supported by Iran.

Iran: a luxuriant reason for an Israeli �Saudi alliance

The overplayed Sunni-Shiite division in the Middle East is one of the greatest fault lines among Muslim countries, which they not have been able to overcome which explains one third of the Iran-Saudi rivalry. Saudi Arabia, a Wahhabi clan advocate, which also happens to be a key power in the Sunni world considers all Shias infidels and Iran being a majority Shia state, KSA hence see it as its archrival.

As a result, Saudis consider any pro-Iran governments in the Middle East as enemies and any anti-Iran governments as close friends and allies, so much so, that they turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people who by the way are a majority of Sunnis.

Obviously Saudi Arabia is not in the least interested in a strengthening Iran. However, the lifted sanctions and Tehran's active role in international politics and its direct involvement in the war against terror in both Iraq and Syria inevitably lead to a strengthening Persian state, something that seems such an alarming outcome for the Saudis.

Trump catalyzes the unholy alliance

The recent Trump visit to the Middle East also demonstrated US-Israeli conjunction on Iran. On the Israel-Palestine war, Trump adopted an extremely biased position while uttering deceitful clich�s about Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in harmony. Trump was predictably silent about the stealing of Palestinian and Arab lands, their mass expulsion and their extermination through acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing pursued by Israel. He appeared oblivious to the humiliation and oppression that Palestinians have to undergo on a daily basis at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank or to the confinement of about 2 million Palestinians in the world�s largest open-air prison called Gaza.

What Trump was excited about though was that both Israel and KSA regard Iran as a sponsor of terrorism. Equating between supporting a resistance movement such as Hezbollah to colluding with ISIS or Al-Qaeda which Saudi Arabia funds and abets by the way. It is important to note that in the last so many years not a single Iranian has been involved in any of the terrorist attacks in West Asia and North Africa (WANA), or in Europe or in North America or in other parts of the world. In fact, the leading terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda are anti-Iran and anti-Shia. Most of them are Wahhabi or Sunni with direct�support�from KSA, while Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary guard are battling terrorist fighters.

So basically President Trump used his first foreign trip to repeatedly blast Iran for its �aggressive� behavior, a topic that unifies U.S. allies in the region, especially Saudi Arabia and Israel. This blast was invested by Israeli and Saudi counterparts and announced by The Times while the Arab media remained astoundingly silent except for a few, following reports of Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf States' plans for normalization with Israel which pliably suggests solid foundations of these accusations.

When similar reports emerged in the past, official spokesmen, Arab and Israeli alike, would quickly issue a denial. But this time there were no denials either. That suggests that there is a solid foundation to the principles of the proposal at least between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States without any intend to seek sweeping Arab agreement for this move.

Syria�s membership in the Arab League has been suspended, Iraq is considered Iran�s ally, Libya is falling apart, Yemen is under heavy Saudi attack, Jordan and Egypt blindly follow Saudi Arabia, as are some of the Maghreb states. Thus, partial or full normalization between the Persian Gulf States and Israel will not obligate other Arab countries.

However, such a move will no doubt permanently shake the position of KSA as a custodian of the two holiest sites in the Islamic faith and lead it to lose its weighted influence over the greater Islamic world if and when it chooses to openly uncover its alliance and normalize with the occupying Israeli entity at the full expense of the Palestinian cause. Palestine would then be left to fully coordinate and rely on the support of none other than the rivals of KSA and Israel alike, Iran and Hezbollah.