Publicly, some of them (like Egypt and Jordan) are falling in line with public opinion in their countries and condemning the civilian deaths caused by Israel’s military response. But behind the scenes, almost every leader in the region, including in most of the Gulf states, is urging Israel to end the war only after Hamas is defeated, since they view the organization as a dangerous domestic enemy. //

In the days after the brutal October 7 attacks executed by Hamas, Egypt knew what was going to happen. They deployed tanks to the border while their prime minister vowed that his country would sacrifice millions to keep their borders safe. He was not referring to Israel. //

When the Arab nations met for a summit in November, when some sought to enact punitive measures against Israel, those measures were stopped by Saudi Arabia and countries that had come together with Israel in the Abraham Accords, engineered by former president Donald Trump, as well as Egypt and Jordan. //

The resolution to adopt these measures was blocked by Israel’s Abraham accords partner states the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. They were joined by Egypt and Jordan, two countries with long-standing peace agreements with Israel. Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Djibouti also opposed the measures. //

anon-nn7q veritaseequitas
3 hours ago edited
Oh, I think they're helping Israel bigly in the background.

There are no Sunni Arab street riots, and whatever statements they issue about Israel's actions are muted and not acted upon, even after 5 weeks of combat.

Egypt moved tanks to it's border with Gaza to keep the martyrs (voluntary and involuntary) from entering Egypt, and none of the Sunni nations are offering to take in any Gazan refugees. (Once bitten, twice shy.)

The Sunnis see Israel as the guarantor of their security in the face of Shi'ite Iranian aggression.

The Saudis in particular are really worried about Iran and have dodged missiles launched from Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen for years.

Plus, MBS has made major changes to transform Saudia Arabia into a modern nation, something that would greatly increase the country's power and influence and could change the entire Middle East, to the detriment of Iran.

With the US and the UN pushing Israel to extend any ceasefire and to "protect the refugees," Israel and the Sunni Arab nations of the MENA have found a common interest in survival.