Israeli Intelligence Cooperation with Arab Allies Thwarts Iranian Terrorism

Erfan Fard
March 8, 2021
Paper No. 1954

The magnitude of the terrorist threat in the Middle East has grown steadily since the outset of the so-called “Arab Spring.” The need to modernize intelligence in the service of counterterrorism is a matter of particular concern to the Persian Gulf states, which share the common goal of impeding the spread of Iran’s transnational terrorist network and reducing the damage caused by Iran-affiliated Shiite militias. The newly formed intelligence cooperation between Israel and several Arab states has already thwarted Iranian attacks.

Conflict in Ethiopia Extends Greater Middle East’s Arc of Crisis

Ethiopia, an African darling of the international community, is sliding toward civil war as the coronavirus pandemic hardens ethnic fault lines. The consequences of prolonged hostilities could echo across East Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Failure to Resolve the GERD Issue Portends a Global Crisis and Mass Migration

Despite Qatar’s use of information warfare to spread conspiracy theories about Israel’s alleged role in the Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia crisis over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Israel and the US can be of great assistance in devising mutually beneficial solutions for all parties and averting a global crisis and mass migration from Egypt and Sudan.

The Syrian Intervention: Following the Wingate Model

Orde Wingate’s approach to the liberation of Ethiopia from Italian occupation in 1941 provides a useful model for modern-day intervention in Syria. Rather than hand out money and materiel to local forces (à la the British support of the anti-Ottoman “Great Arab Revolt” of WWI), Wingate advocated committing one’s own forces and then allowing local forces to participate of their own accord. In Wingate’s view, loyalty bought with cash and weapons will always prove temporary.