'Israeli-Saudi relations best kept quiet' - Jerusalem Post

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'Israeli-Saudi relations best kept quiet'

Prof. Teitelbaum: Improving relations with Saudi Arabia, which controls Islamic holy sanctuaries, also works to improve Israel’s relations with Muslim world

Israel should keep its relations with Saudi Arabia as quiet as possible as it continues to explore other ways to improve relations, Prof. Joshua Teitelbaum, an expert on Saudi Arabia and the modern Middle East, told The Jerusalem Post.

“Beyond facing a similar threat from nuclear threshold Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia have been brought closer together by the Obama administration’s strategic decision to draw down its  involvement in the Middle East by seeking a strategic balance between Sunnis and Shiites,” said Teitelbaum.

For the Obama administration, said Teitelbaum, who is an expert at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), there is little respect left for Saudi Arabia, which it sees as responsible, if indirectly, for 9/11 and Islamic State.

“While Iran might support the terrorist Hezbollah and Bashar Assad, Sunni extremists have profited from Saudi support.”

Read More At: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israeli-Saudi-relations-best-kept-quiet-415758