Saudi Arabia assisted Israel and the United States during the Iranian attack on Israel, by providing with the UAE, "intelligence that contributed to an overwhelmingly successful defensive response," the report said although the Saudis stopped short of allowing the U.S. to operate from its airspace.
According to officials speaking to the paper, this was the culmination of years-long American efforts to "break down political and technical barriers that thwarted military cooperation between Israel and the Sunni Arab governments. Instead of a Middle East version of the NATO alliance, the U.S. has focused on less formal regionwide air-defense cooperation," to face the threat from Iran including from its arsenal of drones and missiles.
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בנימין נתניהו ג'ו ביידן מוחמד בן סלמאן עלי חמינאי
(צילום: אלכס קולומויסקי, AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Evelyn Hockstein / POOL / AFP)
The officials said that cooperation between Israel and moderate Arab states on air defense with the U.S. as an intermediary has become common, "even with Saudi Arabia, which still hasn’t established diplomatic relations with Israel." An Israeli source said this was the first time that the defense alliance was observed in action.
WSJ reported that Iran briefed the Saudis and others in the Gulf on the timing and outline of the planned strike on Israel and that that information was passed on to the U.S. providing crucial advance warning to Israel and the American forces.
Meanwhile China said it was willing to work together with Saudi Arabia to avoid further escalation of confrontation in the Middle East, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said to his Saudi counterpart over a phone call.
" China appreciates Saudi Arabia's emphasis on resolving the issue of the attack on Iran's embassy in Syria through diplomatic means," the official Xinhua said.