Thursday (March 11th): Israeli Security Concerns

Benjamin Netanyahu

Name? Benjamin Netanyahu

Westphalian identity? Israeli

Age? 71

Why is he in the news? Netanyahu was set to visit the UAE for the first time ever, further improving relations between the two states. This trip was cancelled last minute, citing a disagreement with Jordan over crossing its airspace. According to his office, this stems from Israel’s cancellation of a planned visit by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein to the Al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem on Wednesday. 

Why do we care? It is very interesting to see how normalisation processes are implemented in the real world. There is still very little trust among different actors and these are prime examples of that lack of trust. For example, Israel’s security concerns for Prince Hussein’s visit were his security guards and their arms… 

Why should you care? Because the drama is sooo good. Who stubbed whom last, whose security detail is too armed, and which airspace closes up next? The drama is good but real-life implications for you are minimal as of right now so it scores a 5/10 on our how much you should care scale. 

Who else cares? Mohammed bin Salman. Where there is drama, add the Saudi Crown Prince. Rumours have it that Bibi and MBS were supposed to have another meeting to discuss potential normalisations. This visit to the UAE could have been a great cover to meet and to avoid another exposure like last time. 

Any further comments? Keeping in mind Netanyahu is up for elections on March 23rd, yes again, it makes sense that he is working on his image as the driver of normalisations and the strong statesman representing Israeli interests abroad. Combined with Israel’s success vaccinating its population, an election win is almost a given for Bibi. The fact that he is still on trial for corruption, is barely giving out vaccines to Palestinians in occupied territories, and undermining democracy through some policies are just issues for cherry pickers.

Joshua Dario Hasenstab

General Coordinator