A damaged building, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, according to an Israeli official in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 9, 2025. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
Arab states have expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military over the past few years, even as the war in Gaza raged, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing U.S. documents. While Israel’s attack on Doha in September targeting Hamas leaders strained these ties, the newspaper noted that the relationships could now prove crucial in monitoring the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
According to the Washington Post, over the past three years, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries have held planning meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar, facilitated by the United States.
In May 2024, the documents show, senior Israeli and Arab military officials convened at al-Udeid Air Base, a major U.S. military facility in Qatar. A planning document prepared two days before the event noted that the Israeli delegation was scheduled to fly directly to the base, bypassing Qatar’s civilian points of entry to avoid public exposure. The conference highlighted growing cooperation, with Israeli officials holding bilateral discussions with representatives from each attending Arab country.
The documents indicate that the threat posed by Iran was the primary driver behind the closer ties, which have been fostered by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Five CENTCOM PowerPoint presentations, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and reviewed by the Washington Post, detail the creation of what the U.S. military calls the “Regional Security Construct.” In addition to Israel, the construct includes Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Kuwait and Oman listed as “potential partners” briefed on all meetings.
Acknowledging political sensitivities, the documents emphasize that the partnership “does not form a new alliance” and that all meetings would be “held in confidence.”
The documents show how the centerpiece of the construct, an air-defense plan to combat Iran’s missiles and drones, moved from theory to reality over the past three years. Israel and the Arab countries signed on to the plan at a 2022 security conference, agreeing to coordinate military exercises and procure the equipment to make it possible. By 2024, CENTCOM successfully linked many of the partner states to its systems, according to the leaked documents, allowing them to provide radar and sensor data to the U.S. military and, in turn, to view the combined data of the partners, the Washington Post adds in its report.
Doha attack's impact on these military ties
Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, according to the American newspaper.
Emile Hokayem, director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said the United States has long hoped that military cooperation would pave the way for political normalization between Israel and the Arab states. However, while quietly working with the countries’ military leaders may avoid thorny political discussions, this approach also “obscures or hides the reality” of the tensions between the parties, he noted.
Those tensions, Hokayem said, were on full display after the Israeli strike in Qatar. “A key member of the American effort has attacked another, with America seen as complacent, complicit, or blind,” he said. “The resulting distrust will mar American efforts for years to come.”
Despite this, the Washington Post reports that these military ties could now play a key role in overseeing the Gaza peace plan signed on Oct. 9. U.S. officials announced on Thursday that 200 U.S. troops would be sent to Israel to support the cease-fire agreement and would be joined by soldiers from several Arab countries involved in the long-standing security cooperation. The plan calls for Arab states to participate in the deployment of an international force in Gaza to train a new Palestinian police force in the region.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM military planners are working to foster closer ties between Israel and Arab states in the years ahead.
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