While Arab nations condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, some secretly strengthened their military coordination with Tel Aviv during the genocide, according to leaked US documents obtained by The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The documents, produced by US Central Command (CENTCOM), show that over the past three years, Israel and six Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – participated in a framework called the “Regional Security Construct”. Facilitated by the US, the initiative focused on regional threats, Iran, and underground tunnels, tactics frequently used by Hamas in Gaza.
The reports reveal that senior Israeli and Arab military officials held meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar. In May 2024, the documents show they convened at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a major US military facility. A planning document written two days before the meeting said the Israeli delegation was scheduled to fly directly to the base, “circumventing Qatar’s civilian points of entry that could have risked public exposure.”
Iran and “Axis of Evil”
The leaked files also show that the threat posed by Iran was the driving force behind these closer ties, which have been fostered by the US military’s Central Command. One document describes Iran and its allied militias as the “Axis of Evil,” while another includes a map showing missiles over Gaza and Yemen, where Iranian allies hold power.
According to The Washington Post and the ICIJ, five CENTCOM PowerPoint presentations detail the creation of the “Regional Security Construct”. Alongside Israel and Qatar, the construct included Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, while Kuwait and Oman were listed as “potential partners”.
The authenticity of the documents was verified through Defence Department records and military archives. The Washington Post reported that CENTCOM officials, Israel, and the six Arab countries declined to comment.
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Arab rulers in public
Despite the secret cooperation, Arab leaders denounced Israel’s Gaza campaign. At the UN General Assembly in September, Qatar’s emir called the conflict “a genocidal war waged against the Palestinian people” and accused Israel of being “a state hostile to its environment, complicit in building an apartheid system.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry described Israel’s actions as the “starvation” and “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.
The leaked presentations stress that the cooperation “does not form a new alliance” and that meetings were to be “held in confidence.” A heading reading “MUST NOT DO” informed participants that they should not take photographs or provide access to the media. A bolded note above the itinerary reminded staff of culinary restrictions for Jewish and Muslim participants: “No pork / crustaceans.”
The documents also confirm a January 2025 meeting at Fort Campbell Army base in Kentucky, where US forces trained partners on detecting and neutralising threats from tunnels, a reference to Hamas’ underground network in Gaza. CENTCOM personnel also led sessions to “propagate [a] partner narrative of regional prosperity and cooperation.”
Arab distrust
Following Israel’s September 9 strike on Qatar’s capital targeting Hamas leaders, trust within the group was shaken. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later apologised to Qatar on September 29, after prompting from the Trump administration, and pledged not to conduct such attacks again.
Emile Hokayem, director of regional security at the think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the US has long hoped that military cooperation would bring about political normalisation between Israel and the Arab states.
However, while quietly working with the countries’ military leaders may dodge thorny political discussions, this approach also “obscures or hides the reality” of the tensions between the parties, he said.
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.”
Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa whose work focuses on Middle East security issues, said: “There’s a lot of concern in gulf states about what an unshackled Israel is going to do. But at the same time, they are reliant on the US as the guarantor of their security… and they are also very concerned about Iran.”
Neither U.S. officials nor any Arab governments have publicly confirmed the cooperation described in these documents.
This report is based entirely on documents obtained and verified by The Washington Post and the ICIJ.
