Iran has become the “the new priority” for Saudi Arabia in orienting itself toward Israel, replacing the Palestinian issue that had for decades been emphasized by Riyadh as having prominence, according to a not wholly sympathetic account of the shift published Thursday by London School of Economics professor Madawi Al-Rasheed.

The Arab Peace Initiative, a breakthrough when it was announced 12 years ago, must be added to the list of Saudi foreign policy failures, at least for now. Perhaps there is a faint pulse, and new leadership in the kingdom, Israel and the region might someday resurrect it in one form or another.

In the meantime, the new priority is Iran, and keeping the heat on with continuous alarmist propaganda about the Iranian threat, which has replaced Israel as the enemy of choice…The prospect of Saudi-Israeli ties at first may seem a stretch, but the Saudi leadership may not be so concerned with domestic public opinion and not fear a backlash from their conservative Salafist backers.

She outlined a range of rhetorical and theological resources that Saudi leaders have at their disposal for justifying warmer ties with the Jewish state. The article is the latest in what has become regular analysis describing how Gulf countries are consolidating internally and bolstering their flanks as a ‘new normal’ takes hold in the Middle East: a northern Shiite crescent from Lebanon to Iran, opposite a camp of Washington’s traditional Arab and Israeli allies, opposite an axis of Turkey, the Muslim Brotherhood, and often Qatar.

Al Arabiya News last week conveyed statements by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) head Dr. Abdul Latif bin Rashid al Zayani, in which the secretary-general marked the organization’s 33rd anniversary calling for deeper integration within the organization. Al Arabiya noted that the GCC was created “as a buffer against Shiite-dominated Iran.”

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