Thread by @nivcalderon

The Washington Post revealed American documents that during the war, while attacking Israel in the harshest terms, at least six Arab countries took part in a regional security mechanism and shared intelligence and military training with it. "All meetings must be held discreetly," it said, and all meetings were designated "confidential and secret."

The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) today (Saturday) revealed American documents that show that despite the Arab countries' harsh and public condemnations of Israel, behind the scenes the picture was different - and even at the height of the fighting, their close security cooperation with Israel continued.

The documents document the establishment of a security mechanism called the "Regional Security Construct," which included Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar, with Kuwait and Oman listed as potential partners. The mechanism was essentially a secret, institutionalized regional system of meetings, training, and information sharing—designed to counter the Iranian threat and strengthen military ties between the Arab states and Israel.

Participation in the meetings was conducted in secret, and all meetings were defined as "confidential and confidential." Internal instructions given to participants emphasized that it was prohibited to take photographs or share information with the media about it, and also included detailed instructions regarding kashrut rules and the halacha prohibiting serving refreshments with pork and seafood.

The mechanism was established and operated under the coordination and mediation of the United States Army Central Command (CENTCOM). According to the documents, over the past three years, a series of conferences and security maneuvers have been held in various locations - from Bahrain and Jordan to Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and even at Fort Campbell in Kentucky - in which senior officers from Israel and Arab countries participated, alongside CENTCOM personnel.

One of the documents describes international training in identifying and destroying underground tunnels, a technology used by Hamas in Gaza, and another deals with training held last September in Egypt, in which soldiers from the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, India, Britain and Qatar participated.

According to the report, the stated goal of the "regional security mechanism" is to enable intelligence sharing, radar connectivity, cyber communications, and real-time coordination of military operations. Starting in 2022, agreements were signed to coordinate air defense systems against Iranian missiles and drones, and by 2024, six of the seven participating countries had already been connected to an American system that unifies their radar and sensor data with that of the US military.

According to the documents, two of the countries - whose names were not disclosed - even passed their own information to a US Air Force squadron, and the countries are all now using an encrypted chat system designed for direct communication with Washington and its allies.

The US has also worked to expand this regional cooperation to the worlds of cyber and information: one of the documents promises that by the end of 2026, a "Joint Cyber ​​Center for the Middle East" is expected to be established, which will coordinate training and exercises in digital defense, as well as a regional information center ("Information Fusion Center") that will enable "information fusion" on the planning and execution of combined operations. The cyber center is expected to serve as a training and education center for both Israeli and Arab experts, while the regional information center will allow countries to share intelligence data in real time and coordinate joint operations in conflict zones.

Saudi Arabia, according to the documents, has played a particularly active role in the mechanism – sharing intelligence with Israel and other Arab partners, and providing regional security briefings on Syria, Yemen and ISIS activity. One of the most notable meetings took place last January at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, about an hour’s drive from Nashville, where participants learned to identify and destroy attack tunnels common in Gaza.

At another meeting, Saudi and American intelligence officials briefed participants on Russian, Turkish and Kurdish activity in Syria, along with an overview of the threats posed by the Houthis in Yemen and ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

According to the report, relations fell into crisis following the Israeli Air Force attack on Doha last month, which targeted senior Hamas officials. The attack also surprised Washington, and caused severe tensions with Qatar, which in addition to its role as a mediator with Hamas also served as one of the main partners in the secret mechanism.

Therefore, President Trump applied pressure on Netanyahu, until he was forced to apologize in a recorded phone call from the Oval Office and promise not to repeat a similar action.

The documents themselves explicitly make it clear to all participants that "the partnership does not constitute a new alliance" and that "all meetings must be conducted discreetly." At the same time, Arab leaders continued to attack Israel on every international stage.

At the UN, the Emir of Qatar called the operation in Gaza "a war of racial annihilation against the Palestinian people," and the Saudi Foreign Ministry accused Israel of "starving the Palestinians and ethnic cleansing."