WASHINGTON, D.C.—The growing Iranian influence in the Middle East has brought two historic enemies together, Israel and Saudi Arabia, officials from both countries revealed during a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) event.
Retired Maj. Gen. Anwar Eshki of Saudi Arabia, who served as an adviser to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and Israeli Amb. Dore Gold, who is expected to become the next director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, delivered speeches at the CFR event on Thursday. Their speeches focused on the danger that Iran poses to their respective countries.
They revealed that both countries have met in secret to discuss political and economic ways in which they can derail the Shiite powerhouse’s activities in the region, which they consider a problem.
“Our standing today on this stage does not mean we have resolved all the differences that our countries have shared over the years,” Dore Gold, told the audience, adding, “But our hope is we will be able to address them fully in the years ahead.”
Saudi Arabia refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have held five secret meetings since the beginning of 2014—in India, Italy, and the Czech Republic, writes Bloomberg View’s Eli Lake.
“We discovered we have the same problems and same challenges and some of the same answers,” Shimon Shapira, a retired Israeli general and an expert on Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, told Lake.