'Pakistan could be next to normalize ties with Israel'

By Dean Shmuel Elmas

British-Pakistani analyst Noor Dahri says that Oman, Sudan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia are likely to follow UAE and Bahrain and seek rapprochement with Israel sooner than believed.

The historic peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have send shockwave across the Arab world, meeting both commendations and condemnations.

Jerusalem has expressed hope that the momentum caused by the two accords will continue to sweep through the region, despite the Palestinians' disapproval and Iran's implied and explicit threats against its neighbors over any attempted rapprochement with the Jewish state.

British-Pakistani analyst Noor Dahri, founder and executive director of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, a UK-based think tank, told Israel Hayom Monday that many other Arab countries have taken notice of the regional winds of change, and may follow in Abu Dhabi and Manama's footsteps sooner that one may believe.

"The peace agreements of the UAE and Bahrain with Israel are just a door [for them] for opening further diplomatic, trade and strategic relations with the Israel. There are many countries that are awaiting their term to join the agreement, such as Oman, Sudan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia," he said.

"We must not forget that despite the tough political tension between Qatar and other members of the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council], Israel has already maintained good mutual relations with Qatar and there is no doubt that Qatar may join the peace agreement with Israel sooner or later.

"Pakistan has also not closed the door completely but its national interests do not permit it to announce open relations with the Jewish state. … Both states have had intelligence and military relations for decades. Pakistan has never considered the Jewish state as its enemy but may establish conditional relations with it in the future, after the Arab agreements."

Dahri, an independent researcher specializing in Islamism extremism and counterterrorism, is an adviser to many national and international organizations, including British Association of Islamic Studies and the Council for Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, to name a few. As for whether the Israeli-Bahraini peace agreement may prove more problematic than the accord struck with the UAE over the Shiite-Sunni conflict, Dahri explained, "We need to look at the sectarian and political angle. As the majority in Bahrain is Shiite, Iran already has influence on the population, as is the case in Yemen.

"There are a few terrorist organizations in Bahrain that are supported and militarized by Iran. In the current situation of the Israel-Bahrain peace agreement, Iran may use these organizations to conduct terrorist attacks not only against the Bahraini government but also to target the Israeli interests in a country.

"The UAE has also conducted a few intelligence and security operations in the past few years and arrested more than 100 Muslim Brotherhood activists that also had logistic support from Iran. Therefore, the political satiation of the sectarian conflict in the UAE and far different than [the one that may develop] in Bahrain."

According to Dahri, "One must know that GCC is funded not by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but the Kingdom of Bahrain, which has great influence over Gulf Cooperation Council decision-making.

"However, the peace agreement could benefit the state of Israel by establishing strong ties with the other members of the GCC and it is a prime chance that in the near future the state of Israel could be the member of the GCC."

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/09/15/pakistan-could-be-next-to-normalize-ties-with-israel/