IDF chief met army heads of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, other Arab states to discuss Iran – report
Meeting said to take place last week at German ski resort, also included CENTCOM head and military chiefs from UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait
The military chiefs of Israel, the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt held a meeting in Germany last week about the war with Iran and regional tensions, two Israeli officials told the Axios news site in a Tuesday report.
The private meeting at a secluded ski resort, organized by US CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and confirmed by CENTCOM to Axios, was the first such gathering since the US and Israel launched their joint campaign against Iran in February, according to the report.
The officials have previously held similar meetings, the report said, despite Israel not having diplomatic relations with several of the involved Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the latter of which has been called an “enemy state” by several prominent Israeli politicians.
During the meeting, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir briefed his counterparts on “IDF operations on various fronts,” the report said.
At the sit-down, Cooper told his counterparts that the US military would not withdraw its forces from the region despite Iranian attacks on American bases, the sources told Axios.
Cooper also briefed them on US plans for expanding maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane that carried one-fifth of the world’s energy supply before Iran began blockading the waterway and attacking ships trying to transit it.
In a statement to Axios confirming the meeting, CENTCOM said it “hosted senior military leaders from eight nations during a scheduled conference in Germany.”
The statement added that the leaders “discussed opportunities for enhancing security cooperation in the Middle East.”
A source familiar with the matter also told Axios that Israel and Saudi Arabia, with CENTCOM assistance, are discussing ways Jerusalem could assist Riyadh in confronting Houthi advances toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait amid renewed conflict between the two, and attacks by the Iran-backed group on the kingdom, adding it is unlikely Israel will take any offensive actions.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israel Hayom daily newspaper reported that CENTCOM had been overseeing contacts between the two countries over the Houthi attacks.
The IDF declined a request for comment on the Germany meeting from The Times of Israel.