The Middle East’s ‘peace architecture’ may be giving rise to an anti-Israel bloc - opinion
Instead of building peace, we are building a system in which Israel's enemies keep their weapons while Israel's friends gain the power to tell Israel when it may use its own.
The Middle East's peace architecture may be morphing into a clique that puts pressure on Israel. Israel has long dealt with hostile governments individually, but now a network of countries is united, pressuring Israel on issues like Gaza, Hamas, and Hezbollah. This danger is highlighted by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and Indonesia issuing a joint statement urging Israel to follow a specific Gaza framework and maintain American involvement.
The issue isn't diplomacy, but the pressure's direction - Israel is being asked to withdraw while Hamas remains armed.
The October 7 attack should have dispelled any notion that Israel can trade security for promises. Yet Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and the UAE are increasingly speaking through the same diplomatic framework, pushing Israel in the same direction. This matters because these nations were not intended to function as a collective referee over Israeli security.
Egypt's peace with Israel, signed in 1979, worked because it was bilateral. Now, Cairo is increasingly operating within a wider Gaza mechanism with Turkey and Qatar. The UAE has joined these coordinated statements.
The risk isn't that Egypt suddenly abandons peace, but that a strong bilateral relationship becomes absorbed into a regional bloc. Imagine if Israel discovered Hamas rebuilding tunnels, weapons depots, or armed units post-withdrawal. Would Turkey and Qatar condemn Israel? Egypt might too. This threatens Israel's security when dealing with a coordinated diplomatic front rather than a single mediator.
The same pattern is emerging in Lebanon, with Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and Indonesia possibly participating in a Hezbollah disarmament verification mechanism. While these initiatives may seem harmless alone, together they create a powerful network with money, military personnel, diplomatic recognition, economic leverage, and American backing.
This network could influence Israel's security decisions, battlefield outcomes, borders, sanctions, reconstruction money, and even Washington's actions. Israel is easy to pressure, but Hamas and Hezbollah are not. This imbalance makes democratic states the easiest targets.
Power dynamics are shifting, with Israel becoming the easiest target. The burden should be on Hamas to prove the threat is gone, not on Israel to withdraw first. Peace requires partners, and while Israel should enhance peace with Egypt and expand the Abraham Accords, peace agreements should remain peace agreements, not evolving into multinational structures that police Israel. The US should build an architecture that restrains Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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