Israel Shows Biden List Of Military Pacts With States Not Part Of Abraham Accords

The Israeli defense minister has presented Joe Biden with a list of Jerusalem's clandestine military agreements with regional countries, including ones not signatories of the Abraham Accords. 

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Benny Gantz disclosed to Biden agreements with some Arab countries with whom Israel does not have official diplomatic ties. 

Saudi Arabia had signaled its backing for the so-called Abraham Accords under which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain forged relations with Israel built on common commercial interests and worries about Iran. But Riyadh has stopped short of formally recognizing neighboring Israel.

Saudi Arabia will allow overflights to and from Israel, in a decision welcomed by Biden who is visiting the kingdom on Friday. He called the decision an important step towards building a more integrated and stable Middle East region.

The House of Representatives on Thursday backed legislation to work on establishing a joint Middle East air-defense alliance as part of the passage of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Last Thursday, Gantz revealed that in the period since the signing of the Abraham Accords some two years ago, there have been more than 150 meetings between Israeli defense officials with their counterparts across the Middle East, not including Jordan and Egypt, in which Israeli weapons have been sold to moderate Sunni Arab countries for over $3 billion.