Saudi Arabia Begins Purchasing Weapons from Israel
A new round of special arms purchases has begun by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which is of great significance for regional equations in the Middle East. The strictness of the U.S. regarding arms sales in the first year of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration marked a serious change in Washington’s rhetoric and policy towards these two countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the Yemen crisis and Bin Salman’s war-mongering in that country were issues that both Biden personally and various factions of the Democratic Party were very sensitive to and still are. However, it was not expected that this strict policy towards the Saudis and Emiratis would go beyond the maximum and serious discourse of the Biden administration. The intertwining of U.S. interests with Saudi Arabia in multiple cases, the financial and political influence of Saudi lobbies in Washington, and most importantly, the threat of Iran, which Americans also agree with the Saudis on its danger, created various layers of bargaining in favor of the Saudis. In November 2021, the sale of ground-to-air defense systems to Saudi Arabia worth $650 million was approved by the Biden administration. The sale of these defense systems was not in contradiction with Biden’s announced policies precisely because of their defensive nature. However, many Democrats were angered by that deal, and a proposal to stop the sale of these systems was sent to the Senate, which the Saudi lobby easily defeated with the support of Republicans and a few Democratic senators. In July this year, serious news about a fundamental change in policy-making in the Biden administration was published, indicating the opening of the path for the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, but there is still no news of such contracts being realized. If there is any news, it is fresh news about new purchases by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Purchases in Washington
Exactly a week ago, it was first the Pentagon that confirmed the purchase of advanced Patriot systems by Saudi Arabia, and then the sale was approved by the U.S. State Department. These systems, along with all their technical attachments, will include 300 missiles, and the value of the Saudi purchase contract is $3 billion. These advanced and updated systems are produced by Raytheon. The goal and justification for selling these systems to Saudi Arabia is to enable this country to defend itself against Houthi attacks. Experts had reported a decrease in Saudi Arabia’s stockpile of ground-to-air defense missiles. On the same day that the news of this deal was announced, another piece of news was also formalized, which was the extension and strengthening of the ceasefire in Yemen. On the same Tuesday, the U.S. State Department announced that it had also approved the sale of special defense systems to the UAE. 96 missiles and the technical attachments of the famous THAAD systems will be sold to the UAE by the well-known Lockheed Martin in a contract worth $22 billion. The U.S. Department of Defense’s statement about this specific contract is very interesting. In this statement, the aim of selling these defense systems to the UAE is to increase this country’s defensive capability against ballistic missiles and reduce the UAE’s dependency on the U.S.
Purchases in Tel Aviv
The idea that one day Saudi Arabia would purchase weapons from Israel could have been merely the initial idea for a comedy film until just a few years ago. However, developments in the relations between Gulf Arabs and Israeli politicians, security officials, and businessmen over the past decade have been beyond imagination. In the process of research activities and production in the defense industries, the cooperation between Israelis and their American partners is the most advanced example in the world. Joint production and brilliant updates of missile defense systems, which have led to major innovations in the creation of the Iron Dome system, are just a small part of Israel’s achievements as a result of cooperation with the U.S. Israel benefits from a multi-layered missile defense structure, with the Iron Dome being only one of the defensive layers of this defense system. With the opening of the path for arms purchases by Gulf Arabs in Tel Aviv, three specific types of defense systems are already on display, which Saudi Arabia and the UAE can write checks for. If any sign is needed for the initial and simple steps to start such interactions, it is the secret meeting a few months ago of senior U.S. and Israeli defense officials with military commanders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, and Bahrain, which has paved the way for new collaborations between Arabs and Israel.
Purchases from Korea
In the year 2000, South Korea was the 31st largest arms exporter and by 2021, it had become the eighth largest in this ranking. In the four years leading up to 2021, South Korea’s military exports grew by 177%. South Korea’s high technical and military capabilities have not been hidden from the Gulf Arabs. Aside from South Korea’s cooperation with the UAE and building a nuclear power plant for them, large contracts for the sale of medium-range missiles to the UAE at the beginning of this year attracted a lot of attention. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who are leading in military purchases in the Gulf, continue their market exploration, and in this process, the UAE comfortably signed an $18 billion contract to purchase French fighter jets. What should be awaited is the writing of purchase checks in Israel.
