Israel’s 9 September attack on Qatar shows why its neighbour, Saudi Arabia, has been pushing for a formal defence pact with the US in recent years. Despite being close US partners, the Gulf states only have informal security agreements with Washington. These are not ratified by the US Senate, and in this case did not prevent Israel from striking the Qatari capital. Riyadh has repeatedly insisted on a formal agreement with US security guarantees. Recall the US proposal from autumn 2023 on upgrading US-Saudi defence relations: back then, President Joe Biden suggested offering Saudi Arabia a mutual defence pact in return for the kingdom normalizing relations with Israel. President Donald Trump repeated that offer when he met with Saudi leaders on his trip to the Gulf this May. In the end, neither Biden nor Trump could deliver because Israel did not meet Saudi Arabia’s condition of agreeing to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Regardless, the point remains: the Saudis were insisting on the Americans providing ironclad security guarantees that would make any US violation of the pact costly for Washington politically and reputationally.
Israel’s attack on Qatar shows why it’s time for a Gulf defence union (Bilal Y. Saab – Chatham House)
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