Hezbollah claims Gulf is abandoning 'Arabs' through Israel ties

Hezbollah’s Nabil Qaouk, a member of the group’s executive council, said that a “Saudi-Zionist” plan is forming against Lebanon and that it is opposed to the true “Arabism” of the pro-Iranian resistance in Lebanon. This is the usual Iranian and Hezbollah talking point, but it also reveals the obsession that Iran and its proxies have with the Gulf and the current ties that are growing between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.

The latest screed in Tasnim News in Iran, quoting the Hezbollah member, is to claim that the Gulf countries are not “preserving” their “Arab identity” by working with Israel. This is a bit of an irony considering Hezbollah works for Iran, which is a non-Arab country. 

“We call on Saudi Arabia to preserve its Arab identity and not to lose its Arabness in the alliance with the Israeli enemy,” the Hezbollah member said. He accused Saudi Arabia of joining an upcoming US-led military drill that includes Israel. "The joint military exercise of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain with Israel has removed the mask of false Arabism.”

The attack on Saudi Arabia by the Hezbollah operative in his speech is one of the first prominent references in pro-Iran media to a large US-led naval exercise dubbed the International Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMX 22) which includes approximately 60 countries. Reports say that while Israel is taking part there will also be countries that do not have relations with Israel, such as Saudi Arabia and Oman, according to Al-Jazeera. Israel’s Defense Minister was recently in Bahrain and Israel, the UAE and Bahrain did a naval drill with the US last year. 

The Hezbollah official stated that “the participation of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain in this exercise, along with the Zionist regime, is a dagger on the back of the Palestinian people and the heart of Jerusalem, and a threat to the Arab national security, and Lebanon is among the victims." How is Lebanon, which receives US support, a “victim.” He claimed it is because Lebanon is “in a position to confront the Zionist enemy.”

Qaouk also slammed the visit of Israel’s Defense Minister to Bahrain and the signing of an agreement there. He claims it was a “betrayal of all Arabs.” He went on to complain about how the “Americans, the Saudis and the Emirati people are directly and shamelessly interfering in the Lebanese elections, financing and managing campaigns, and even entering the level of election slogans in Lebanon and pursuing only one goal.”

Back in October 2021, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain pulled their ambassadors from Lebanon after a Lebanese official appeared to support the Iranian-backed Houthis. The Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia has historically played a role in Lebanon, helping end the civil war in the 1980s and backing key Sunni families in Lebanon, such as forming close ties with the Hariris. Hezbollah murdered former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. 

The Hezbollah member bashed the Saudis for intervening in Lebanon and claimed that they and other Gulf states had tried to overthrow the Syrian regime. He also mentioned the Saudi war in Yemen. “Their bets on political, economic and financial sanctions against Hezbollah have also failed, but they do not learn from these experiences.”

He claimed Hezbollah is more popular this year than at any previous time. He accused foreign embassies of spending money against Hezbollah, an apparent reference to the US embassy in Lebanon. There was also a reference in the article to Israel’s Minister of Defense sanctioning companies that support Hezbollah’s missile project.