Israel unlikely to improve Saudi ties despite Houthi threat, expert tells 'Post' - interview

Israel is unlikely to find an opening to improve relations with Saudi Arabia despite Riyadh’s efforts to expand intelligence sharing and military assistance in its fight against the Houthis, Dr. Brandon Friedman, director of research at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University and a researcher on political reform in Saudi Arabia, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

Friedman spoke with the Post after Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was seeking US military assistance to confront the Houthi threat. Israel Hayom subsequently reported that Israel had been indirectly approached through CENTCOM to share intelligence and provide other assistance.

Saudi media confirmed that Salman discussed regional developments with US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday, though it remains unclear to what extent Riyadh pursued other options for military support.

Though Friedman said it would be logical for the current security situation to create an opening for Israel to collaborate with Saudi Arabia, given the shared enemy in the Iranian axis, he maintained it would be “fairly unlikely as things stand” given that “all foreign policy issues today are being refracted through the lens of the Israeli election.”

Any support Riyadh would receive from Israel would need to happen “quietly,” because of their “own domestic political needs,” Friedman said, adding that he believed that any support Israel would currently provide would only be given in the context of providing the governing coalition with a “pre-election boost.”

Jerusalem, Washington long sought to bring Saudi Arabia into Abraham Accords

Though Riyadh has maintained that it will not normalize relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is established, Jerusalem and Washington have long sought to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords.

Though Saudi Arabia ranked 25th out of 145 countries in the 2026 Global Firepower Index, Friedman argued that Riyadh had become increasingly dependent on Washington over the past 15 years and now had “very little of its own military power,” leaving it with limited tools at its disposal, “which is why their war in Yemen since basically 2015 has been a failure.”

While Riyadh could turn to Israel and the United Arab Emirates for support, Friedman suggested that they would be unlikely to do so given that “the Saudis have been at loggerheads” with both countries for the last year. Though Israel has signaled it is willing to share intelligence, Friedman maintained that it was “fairly unlikely, given the current political constellation.”

“If there was a new governing coalition that seemed more committed to discretion, then perhaps there would be an opening for greater cooperation,” he suggested.

With reports indicating that Washington has now refused to come to the aid of Riyadh against the Houthis, and cooperation with Israel still off the table, Friedman explained that Saudi Arabia has begun searching for new regional powers, hence the Mecca Agreement signed by Turkey and Pakistan. The agreement, however, has not provided Riyadh with the support it needs now, as such a move would be considered premature.

Pakistan has already refused to provide its own troops for war with the Houthis and is preoccupied with fighting the Taliban.

Mecca Agreement insufficient for Saudi, may appease Iran

With the US out, and the Mecca Agreement unable to offer what is needed, Friedman said that the final option for Saudi Arabia would be to try to “appease” Iran, which he suggested is what was happening now.

“The Iranians are trying to tie the war in Yemen to their ongoing negotiations through Oman with the GCC states over service charges for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” he explained, adding that Iran had directed the Houthis to escalate in hopes of seeing Riyadh fold on Tehran’s demands.

With the Houthis attempting to assert control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, Saudi Arabia’s oil industry could be “strangled,” he continued.

The Houthis have already bombed the East-West pipeline, which has rerouted around 4 million barrels of oil per day, or roughly 4% of global supply. Iranian-backed militias have also repeatedly targeted Saudi oil infrastructure, Friedman said, arguing that the attacks are intended to pressure Riyadh into accepting greater Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Given the impact the Houthis are having on oil prices, Friedman suggested that Riyadh was holding onto the hope that Washington would throw its weight against the Houthis and Iran, something Friedman said was unlikely given the upcoming summit with the Chinese presidency and the approaching midterm elections.

“The Americans are not keen to see the war expand right now, and I think that’s part of why the Iranians are escalating at this point,” he theorized.

With the Gulf states unable to agree to a united response, and with Iran increasingly using the global economy as political leverage, Friedman suggested Riyadh would become trapped under the increasing pressure.