The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, shattered Israel’s long-standing security paradigm, replacing limited deterrence with an ambitious campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas, confronting Hizballah and other Iranian proxies, and directly targeting Iran’s nuclear program with the support of the United States. In stark contrast, Saudi Arabia has prioritized regional stability and de-escalation, restoring relations with Iran, and focusing on its Vision 2030 economic transformation. These divergent paths — Israel’s military maximalism versus Saudi Arabia’s pursuit of stability — have frozen normalization talks and complicated US diplomacy.
Post-Oct. 7 divergent paths: Israel’s military maximalism and Saudi Arabia’s strategic de-escalation (John Calabrese – Middle East Institute)
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