Israeli figures praise Arab decision to cut ties with Qatar

A Saudi expert has for the first time been interviewed on Israeli television. Abdel Hamid Hakim, who heads the Jeddah-based Institute for Middle East Studies, told Israel’s Channel 2 via Skype that the decision by three Gulf countries to sever relations to Qatar “comes in the framework of a new policy in which there is no room for terror.”

Abdel Hamid Hakim, who heads the Jeddah-based Institute for Middle East Studies interviewed by Israel s Channel 2 on 6 June, 2017 [Channel 2]

Earlier yesterday, Israeli Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, praised the decision as “an opportunity for cooperation” between Israel and the Arab states against terror.

It is clear to everyone, even in the Arab countries, that the real danger to the entire region is terrorism

Lieberman said, according to the Israeli website i24.

Read: Iran, Turkey and Iraq meet over Qatari crisis

The Jerusalem Post published an article titled “Five reasons why Israel should care about the Qatar crisis.” In the article, the paper’s Opinions Editor, Seth Frantzman, noted that the crisis “hurts Hamas” and “brings Israel closer to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf”.

US influence is back in the region… it bolsters Israel’s hand in general and Israel’s government in particular.

Frantzman continued.

In a related context, former Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, was quoted by the Jerusalem Post as saying that decision taken by Arab states to cut relations with Qatar serves as “a new line drawn in the Middle Eastern sand”, making Israel and Arab countries unified “against Qatar-financed terror”.