Israel and Saudi Arabia have little love for each other but both are pressing their mutual friend in the White House to hit President Bashar al-Assad hard. And both do so with one eye fixed firmly not on Syria but on their common adversary - Iran.
Neither US ally is picking a fight with Obama in public. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the nation was “serene and self-confident;” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal simply renewed a call to the “international community” to halt Assad’s violence in Syria.
But the Saudi monarchy, though lacking Israel’s readiness to attack Iran, can share the Jewish state’s concern that neither may now look with confidence to Washington to curb what Riyadh sees as a drive by its Persian rival to dominate the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia, like Israel heavily dependent on the United States for arms supplies, is engaged in a historic confrontation with Iran for regional influence – a contest shaped by their leading roles in the rival Sunni and Shia branches of Islam.
Saudi King Abdullah’s wish for US action against Iran was memorably contained in leaked US diplomatic cables, including one in which a Saudi envoy said the monarch wanted Washington to “cut off the head of the snake” to end Tehran’s nuclear threat.
Israel does not share the Saudi enthusiasm for the Syrian rebel cause, despite its concern about Assad’s role as a link between Iran and Lebanese and Palestinian enemies. The presence in rebel ranks of Sunni Islamist militants, some linked to al-Qaeda, worries the Jewish state – though Riyadh, too, is keen to curb al-Qaeda, which calls the royal family American stooges.
More quietly, Israel has been engaged in direct discussions with the White House, urging Obama it is time to act on Syria.
An official briefed on US-Israeli discussions said Israeli intercepts of Syrian communications were used by Obama administration officials in making their public case that Assad was behind the August 21 gas attacks and must be penalised.
Netanyahu, whose frosty rapport with Obama blossomed into a display of harmony on the president’s visit to Israel in March, has ordered his ministers not to criticise Obama publicly after the president’s decision to take the Syrian issue to Congress.
“There is no room here for individual comments,” he said. “I’m asking you not to behave irresponsibly when it comes to our ally, just so you can grab a fleeting headline.”
Israel clearly hopes still that Congress will give Obama the green light for strikes against Assad but is also likely to be wary of deploying its own lobbying power among lawmakers.
That risks being counter-productive and, in any case, the president has made clear that threats to Israel from Syrian chemical weapons are among his own arguments for war.
For all the unease that Israel has about Syria’s rebels, who have at times fired into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, it is pushing hard against Assad now after learning to live with the Syrian leader and his father over the past 40 years. One Israeli official said the message from Netanyahu was clear:
“There is a man in nominal control of Syria who is using chemical weapons against civilians. That has to be stopped.”
That sentiment is echoed in Riyadh. Abdullah al-Askar, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Shoura Council, said that US strikes should aim to end Assad’s rule.
Askar, who said he was speaking in a personal capacity, told Reuters: “If the attack is just a punishment to show that the international community will not stand for chemical attacks, Assad will just remain in his place and do his bloody work.
“The second scenario is to finish the business.”
Mustafa Alani, a Gulf analyst with good connections to Saudi officials, said the kingdom was also warning Washington that a failure to attack Assad would benefit their common enemy al-Qaeda: “No action will boost the extremist position,” he said, explaining that rebel despair at US inaction on Syria would push more fighters to switch allegiance to Islamist militants.
Paraphrasing what he said was a Saudi argument, Alani said: “Without a punishment of the regime, extremists will enjoy wider support and attract more moderate fighters.”
Riyadh already shares rebel frustrations with the shortage of US military aid reaching Syria, despite Obama’s commitment in June to step up assistance after poison gas was first used.
A senior US official spoke of a “stable relationship” with Riyadh “on core national security areas.” But the official also conceded: “While we do not agree on every issue, when we have different perspectives we have honest and open discussions.”
As with Israel over Iran, those are likely to continue.
Robert Jordan, US ambassador to Riyadh in 2001-03, said intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan and ambassador to Washington Adel Jubeir had been “very outspoken” in their belief that the rebels can be trusted and should get military backing.
Obama denies seeking the “regime change” Riyadh wants. But Jordan added: “It doesn’t mean they won’t keep pushing for it.”
This article was first published on Reuters