← Call Me Back - with Dan Senor
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. You are listening to an art media podcast. Hi, it's Dan. This is a sneak peek from the members only edition of our show Inside Call Me Back, where we pull back the curtain and have the conversations we typically have after the cameras stop rolling. This week, Tal Becker was on the hot seat taking your questions. I hope you enjoyed this segment and if you want to get the full episode and support our mission at ARC Media, please become an inside Call Me Back member by following the link in the description or by going to ark media.org that's ark media.org and to all our insiders, thank you. It's your support that keeps the lights on at ARC Media. Welcome to the inside edition of the Call Me Back podcast where we pull back the curtain and have the conversations we typically have after the cameras stop rolling. Thank you for subscribing to the show and supporting the Call Me Back podcast and everything we do here at ark. It makes a real difference and we cannot thank you enough. With me today, taking your questions, your comments and your personal dilemmas, is our newest ARC media contributor, Dr. Tal Becker. Tal, welcome back to the Inside.
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B
Thank you, Dan. It's good to be on the inside.
- [01:27]
A
And our listeners know your background. But just to remind folks, longtime Israeli peace negotiator, longtime diplomatic and legal advisor to numerous Israeli governments, and vice president, the Hartman Institute. And we're thrilled to have you as part of our regular rotation here because I know our subscribers, our insiders are going to have a ton of questions for you whenever you're on. So I want to get right into it, but I do want to just correct something I said and I think maybe the last inside Call Me Back I referred to Brazil. The Jewish community in Brazil is one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. It is 100,000 strong, so that is not nothing. But it is actually ranked 10th in the world, which is nowhere near where I said. So on the one hand, I apologize to our listeners and to the crowdsourcing that occurs among our listeners to fact check what we do here.
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B
It's a formidable community, Dan. Whatever its size, it punches above its weight.
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A
Exact. And we've gotten many invitations to come appear there. For me to come speak there, I haven't been able to, but at some point I would love to. It's a terrific community. All right, so Tal, I'm just going to jump into this. Adam from New Albany, Ontario in Canada writes, does it really matter if Saudi Arabia signs on to the Abraham Accords? Please give your reasons why or why not. And I should say that the reason this issue of Saudi normalization or lack of Saudi normalization is getting renewed attention is because Amit had in his newsletter and the title of today's newsletter was Normalization is Dead. So he's basically arguing, based on his reporting and his analysis, that the Saudis have shifted away from the path to normalization. So, Tal, you've on our podcast and, you know, gotten into the pros and cons and various trade offs to consider as it relates to Saudi normalization. So we don't have to revisit that. But let's get right to what's new. What is Amit referring to here?
- [03:17]
B
Amit is brilliant, but I have the benefit of not being a journalist, so I don't have to come up with one line, headlines. I think that the statement normal, normalization is dead is very much too far reaching in this context. But what Amit is referring to specifically, I think is first that Saudi media in particular and Saudi talking points seem to be in the business of being much more negative on normalization with Israel and much more hostile with Israel. But as Amit notes in his newsletter, that is actually happening against the background of quite a lot of increased tension between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. So, generally speaking, while I think that the core strategic interests of Israel and Saudi Arabia still align for reasons we've talked about before, there are a set of obstacles that are making this process more complicated. Some of them are known, right. So that Israel since October 7, has become more toxic in the Arab world. What MBS may feel about the what's called the Palestinian component of normalization may have shifted. I think there's also a Saudi concern that should there be a renewed violence between Israel and Iran, there's a Saudi assessment that distance from Israel will help inoculate them from any blowback from Iran. So those are features, and there are a couple of others that have made achieving that shared strategic interest more difficult in the immediate term. But I still think that there's a real opportunity there. And with the right efforts and decisions, it's still possible. The extra wrinkle, the extra complication that has come in is this escalation between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, really on a host of regional issues, was most prominent in Yemen, and there are other expressions of it in Sudan and elsewhere. And the general assessment is, I don't know this for a fact. It's just what I'm reading and I'm understanding from my colleagues is that the Saudis are essentially criticizing the UAE in the context of the Abraham accords as part of that broader competition. And I think the fundamental question from an Israeli perspective is is this tension between the UAE and Saudi Arabia structural and fundamental or is it tactical? So there is a component, and there's always been a measure of competition between Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, especially in terms of the attraction of Western economy, Western businesses, Western tourists and so on, and the kind of Dubai model being replicated in Saudi Arabia and how they play that out. But my sense is that the other regional components of this seem to be more tactical. From an Israeli perspective, we certainly want to have the best relations possible with the Emiratis and with the Saudis. They are potential partners for a much, much better Middle east for all the peoples involved. And so from an Israeli perspective, we very much hope that that element of it can be resolved as soon as possible.
- [06:18]
A
Okay, so it's not a five alarm fire as far as your perspective.
- [06:21]
B
I don't think we know yet from the perspective of our interests, and I would say also US interests, it is in our interest that these two core players in the Gulf and in the Middle east figure out a way to reconcile those tensions. And to the extent that anyone can play a role in doing that, I think that that would be very important because it is a complicating factor in the prospect of normalization. And I think it's probably more a tactical thing than a strategic one.
- [06:49]
A
Okay, another question from Canada. Monica from Ottawa. Monica writes, I've read reports of the majority of Palestinians under 45 do not believe that a two state solution is the right strategy for them and that they prefer a one state solution where they get equal rights. Do you see a scenario in which Palestinian leadership takes that strategic path? That's it for our sneak peek today. If you want to catch the full episode, please subscribe to ins side. Call me back by following the link in the description or by going to ark media.org that's ark media.org your support is what allows us to do what we do here at ARC Media. I hope to see you there.