The “Kosher Quartet” of Kushner, Greenblatt, Friedman, and Berkowitz, all Orthodox Jews who support Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the far-right elements of the Likud Party and its allies, have designed a plan that will see Israel’s satellites in the Gulf – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain – as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco ante up billions of dollars for “economic development” of the West Bank that will see a virtual Israeli annexation of the territory by paying Palestinians for their land and infrastructure.

Trump’s “deal of the century” is for a new Palestinian diaspora, one that will see Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Bethlehem, Qalqiliya, Tulkarm, Jenin and other cities depopulated by Palestinians, who will be offered asylum in the Gulf states and a Saudi-planned $500 billion supercity in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, southern Israel, and Sinai called “NEOM.” With their “exit wealth” and college degrees, the Palestinians are viewed by MbS and Kushner as optimal residents of NEOM, planned to be 30 times larger than New York City. As for the West Bank, the plan is for it to be repopulated by Jews from Israel proper, illegal Israeli settlements already in the West Bank, and abroad.

The Kosher Quartet’s “deal of the century” would not have been possible, nor would have the “peace conference” in Manama, were it not for the culpability of Israel’s allies in the Gulf, particularly, Kushner’s good friend, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), and United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahayan (MbZ).

Even US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed the success of the “peace plan” as “un-executable.” He told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that Kushner’s plan “may be rejected.” Pompeo later walked back his comments while accompanying Kushner to the British state dinner for Trump in London. On the way to London from the Middle East, Kushner and Pompeo stopped off in Montreux, Switzerland to attend the secretive annual conclave of the Bilderberg Group.

Pompeo’s comments came at about the same time Kushner, in a rare interview with the press, said the Palestinians are not capable of governing themselves, which really means that his plan sees continued Israeli subjugation over Palestinians who do not accept the sale of their birthright in exchange for Gulf money. Kushner’s plan is nothing more than what might be expected from the son of one of New Jersey’s and New York’s shadiest real estate tycoons and “slum lords,” Charles Kushner, a federal ex-convict who served a nearly two-year prison term for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering.

Kushner also said that it was not his role in brokering a peace agreement for the Palestinians to trust him. That may have been the only truthful thing Kushner said in the interview with Axios. The Palestinians have absolutely no reason to trust Kushner after the Trump administration took several steps to marginalize the Palestinian Authority, including the closure of the US consulate general in Jerusalem, the moving of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, cutting off millions of dollars in direct assistance to Palestinians and via the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and Friedman claiming that Israel is “on the side of God.” Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over Syria’s Golan Heights did nothing to assuage the concerns of the Palestinians, who saw it as a possible prelude to Israel’s re-annexation of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s very own “Warsaw Ghetto” for Palestinians subject to blockades, sanctions, and Israeli military aggression.

Kushner told Axios that he sees a stark difference between the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people. In fact, the State of Palestine, which is governed by the Palestinian National Authority, is recognized by 137 members of the United Nations and holds non-member observer status in the UN.

While the stance of the lavishly pro-Israeli Trump administration on Palestinian self-determination is no surprise, those of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain point to Israel’s growing influence in the Gulf as the Israeli-Gulf Arab alliance against Iran becomes more militant. The Saudis and Emiratis are now close intelligence partners of the Israelis, even relying on Israeli surveillance software to track opponents of their regimes at home and abroad. Israeli, American, Saudi, Emirati, and Jordanian military officers regularly meet in joint war rooms to carry out static military operations against Iran. One such war room is said to be in Eilat, Israel and another, across the border, in Aqaba, Jordan. Among the exercises performed is the disabling of Saudi air defenses to allow Israeli aircraft to pass through Saudi airspace in an attack on Iran. UAE military officers have participated in air training exercises with Israeli pilots in Greece and Israel.

Saudi officials directly responsible for the grisly murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a US permanent resident, in the Saudi consulate-general in Istanbul reportedly met secretly with Israeli intelligence officials. Jared Kushner also reportedly expressed no opposition to MbS’s plan to eliminate Khashoggi, a frequent critic of Saudi policies, including its cooperation with Israel against the interests of the Palestinians.

Joining the Saudis and Emiratis in selling out the Palestinians to the Israelis has been Bahrain, a virtual puppet state of Saudi Arabia that also hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet. Bahrain’s Shi’a Muslim majority, long oppressed by the Wahhabi Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy, was brutally suppressed in 2011 with the assistance of Saudi military forces. Manama has reportedly welcomed Israeli government visitors. The Bahraini Nonoo family, of Iraqi Jewish descent, has seen its members appointed to key Bahraini government positions, including ambassador to the United States and to a seat in parliament.

Two Gulf nations opposed to the Saudi-Emirati-Israeli alliance are Qatar and Oman. Qatar has withstood a brutal Saudi and Emirati economic and diplomatic blockade, supported by the Trump administration, Israel, and Egypt. The Saudis and Emiratis subjected Qatar to a massive cyber-attack and fake news campaign. The anti-Qatar campaign was also assisted by veterans of the Israeli and American signals intelligence and cyber-warfare agencies, Unit 8200 and the National Security Agency (NSA), respectively. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was, in part, fired by Trump over Tillerson’s refusal to agree to Jared Kushner’s tough line against Qatar. Kushner’s attitude was influenced by Qatar’s rejection of a request by Kushner’s father to the head of the Qatar Investment Authority for it to financially bail out the Kushners’ failing building at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Qatar’s good relations with Iran, as well as its contacts with the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza made it target number one for the Israelis and their friends in the Gulf and in Washington.

Oman also maintains good relations with Iran and its stance resulted in a 2018 highly-publicized trip to Muscat by Netanyahu for a meeting with ailing Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Oman refused Netanyahu’s demand that it change its policy toward Iran. Neither Qatar nor Oman are favorable to the Kushner “peace plan” for the Palestinians.

One can imagine the outrage from the likes of Kushner and other members of the powerful Israeli lobby in the United States if a future Democratic president appointed the following four US Representatives: Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib, Somali-American Ilhan Omar, Syrian-American Justin Amash, and Lebanese-American Donna Shalala to be in charge of negotiating a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement. The “usual suspects” would cry foul. Where are those cries now with the perfidy now at play with the Manama conference and Trump’s “Kosher Quartet?”

In November 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered the arrest and detention at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton Hotel of over 200 members of the Saudi royal family, including eleven rival princes, as well as government ministers and influential businessmen. That came after an October 2017 meeting in Riyadh between MBS and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, conclave that lasted well into the early morning hours. At the meeting, Kushner is said to have turned over to MBS a list of the names of the Crown Prince’s opponents: leading figures of the Saudi royal house, government, and major businesses. The list may have also contained the name “Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi.”

The list of Saudi names was, reportedly, compiled by Kushner from top secret special code word documents he had specifically requested from the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency. The documents were specifically requested by Kushner, not because he was an expert in communications intercepts, but because he likely had a control officer who told him what files to obtain. The Kushner family have longstanding ties to the Israeli Likud Party, as well as the Mossad intelligence service. The Mossad enjoys a close working relationship with the Saudi General Intelligence Directorate, which is now firmly committed to MBS after a previous purge of its upper ranks following MBS’s rise to the heir apparent position in the House of Saud.

Those on the list handed over to MBS by Kushner were all subjects of NSA and CIA communications intercepts of phone calls, video conferences, and emails. Kushner is said to have had a phone conversation with MBS a day before Khashoggi was murdered.

Reports from U.S. intelligence sources report that the NSA had intercepted high-level communications between the Saudi government in Riyadh and the Saudi consulate-general in Istanbul indicating that there was a plot afoot to either kidnap Khashoggi and fly him back to Riyadh or murder him on the spot. Kidnapping and detention is definitely part of MBS’s playbook as seen with his kidnapping and detention in Riyadh on November 3, 2017 of arriving Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. No sooner had Hariri’s plane touched down in Riyadh, was his cell phone confiscated by the Saudis and he was detained. Hariri was forced to resign in a forced statement read by him on a Saudi television network. MBS was hoping to replace Hariri with his older estranged brother, Bahaa Hariri, someone that MBS had in his pocket.

MBS had bragged to close advisers that he also had Jared Kushner “in his pocket.” Lebanese President Michel Aoun demanded Hariri’s immediate release by the Saudi regime and his return to Beirut. Just as Riyadh denied it had murdered Khashoggi, it refused to admit that it was holding Hariri against his will. MBS ordered Hariri flown to Abu Dhabi to meet with MBS’s on-and-off-again ally, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ), the heir apparent to the presidency of the United Arab Emirates. At the age of 57, MBZ is not as brash as the young and impetuous MBS. This has been witnessed by MBZ’s willingness to work with Jordanian King Abdullah II to seek an accommodation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. MBS is reportedly furious with MBZ and Abdullah, the latter a member of the Hashemite family, who were ejected from their rule over Mecca and Medina by the British and Sauds, following World War I. Ever since the Hashemites’ loss of the Hejaz region of Arabia to the radical Wahhabist Sauds, there has been bad blood between Riyadh and Amman.

MBS is also upset over MBZ’s support for rival claimants to power in South Yemen. MBS is supporting the rump Yemeni government, much of it in exile in Saudi Arabia, against the Iranian-supported Houthi government ruling from Sana’a in north Yemen in a bloody and genocidal war being orchestrated by Riyadh, with the support of the Trump adminstration and the Israeli regime.

The UAE has been supporting the Southern Transition Council (STC), which strives for South Yemen’s reversion to an independent state, a status it enjoyed before a forced merger with north Yemen in 1990. Caught in the middle are forces loyal to Sheikh Abdullah bin Issa al Aafrar, the Sultan of the Mahra State, which was disestablished when South Yemen achieved independence in 1967. The Mahra Sultan, who is living in the neighboring Sultanate of Oman, under Sultan Qabus bin Said’s protection, is also in the gun sights of MBS, who does not want any competition for Saudi control of all of Yemen.

Oman is reportedly backing the Al-Mahra and Socotra People’s General Council, which is composed of the Mahra Sultan and Mahri tribal elders. This rival governing authority wants to be free of any control by the Saudi, Emirati, Houthi, and the pro-Saudi Yemen government. Through the offices of Oman’s mission to the United Nations, the General Council has been in direct contact with the UN Security Council. The STC also includes members of the tribes and royal families of other former states of the British colonial era Federation of Arab Emirates of the South and Protectorate of South Arabia. These include the Kathiri State, Sultanate of Lahej, the Qu’aiti State of Hadhramaut, and the Emirates of Dhala and Beihan.

MBS is known to be angling to select the successor to Qabus, who has no children and has been a thorn in Riyadh’s side. Under Qabus, Oman has been friendly to Iran and the Assad government in Syria, as well as Qatar, where the 36-year old Emir, Tamim bin Hamad, has infuriated MBS by maintaining relations with Iran. In 2013, Tamim’s father, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, formally abdicated the throne in favor of his son. However, it is well known that Hamad still pulls the strings in Doha. In 1995, Hamad deposed his father, Khalifa BIN Hamad al Thani, who was undergoing medical treatment in Geneva. In 1972, Khalifa ousted his cousin, Ahmad, while he was on a hunting trip in Iran. Ahmad settled in Dubai, where he married the daughter of the Emir of Dubai. MBS and MBZ are anxious to prop up a rival to the current Qatari emir from the ranks of potential claimants to the throne in Doha, including two rival al-Thani clan members who the Saudis have claimed have rightful claims to the Qatari throne – Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani and Sultan bin Suhaim Al Thani.

MBS, along with all the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, have instituted a punishing economic and diplomatic embargo on Qatar. There is some speculation in the Middle East that MBS is quietly backing to succeed Qabus, Taimur bin Assad, the 37-year old son of Qabus’s cousin, Said Assad bin Tariq. As the deputy prime minister for international cooperation, Said Assad bin Tariq was designated as the official heir to the ailing Qabus.

In this Arabian “Game of Thrones,” MBZ may have his own favorites among other claimants to the sultan’s throne in Muscat. These include Said Assad bin Tariq’s half-brothers, Haitham bin Tariq, currently the culture minister, and Shihab bin Tariq, a former commander of the Omani navy. MBZ is reportedly running a network of spies within the Omani royal court to influence the succession to Qabus. There is another, non-Arabian prince, who could also have a great deal of influence in the Omani royal succession. He is the Prince of Wales, Charles, the future King of England, who has been a longtime friend and confidante of Sultan Qabus.

Oman and Qatar have their own agents of influence within the royal families of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. In July, Sheikh Rashid bin Hamad al-Sharqi, the second-in-line for the throne in Fujairah, the UAE emirate that borders Oman, turned up in Qatar to ask for asylum. He said that MBZ’s government was using extortion to eke out transfers of large sums of cash by Emirati royal families to unknown parties around the world, including those in Ukraine, India, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. The UAE, along with the Saudis, are major financial supporters of jihadist elements around the world. Sheikh Rashid has also provided Qatari intelligence with details of discontent among the emirates of the dictatorial policies of MBZ in Abu Dhabi. The other emirs are also critical of the UAE’s involvement in the genocidal civil war in Yemen, one in which troops from Fujairah, Umm al Quwain, Ajman, Sharjah, and Ras al Khaimah, are used for cannon fodder, while those from the wealthier Abu Dhabi and Dubai avoid frontline combat.

Recently, the Saudis have pressured their puppet king in Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to fire his uncle, Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Prince Khalifa is the world’s longest-serving prime minister. However, he has apparently irritated MBS with his work to protect the rights of foreign workers, including those from the Philippines and south Asia, in Bahrain and the wider Gulf region.

MBS and Kushner are known to view Iran as the chief threat to peace in the Middle East. MBZ shares in their view of Iran, something that is, apparently, not shared by the emirates of the northern Gulf region, including Fujairah. From their actions, MBS and MBZ are, along with their Israeli and American allies, the major threat to peace in the region. The assassination of a journalist resident in the United States in a third country, Turkey, and the kidnapping and house arrest of a sitting prime minister of another nation is unprecedented behavior in the Middle East. The Saudis are only matched by Israel in their total disregard for international norms of behavior in the Middle Eastern region as they and their cohorts engage in their bloody “Game of Thrones.”

Photo: seraamedia.org

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are both an important market for Russian exports (including weapons, nuclear reactors, and railroads) and a source of investment into the Russian economy. Since President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, Moscow’s relations with the Gulf monarchies have improved dramatically. Russian President visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar in January 2007, and then the UAE in September of the same year. Gulf leaders have met with him in Russia on numerous occasions.

There are things to unite the parties. They oppose various aspects of US foreign policy. Neither Russia nor the Gulf states approve of Washington’s support for Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians. Neither has been comfortable with the democracy-promotion efforts served to impose US vision on others.

Furthermore, neither Russia nor the Gulf states (except for Qatar) were happy about the US suddenly distancing itself in 2011 from then Egyptian President Mubarak, its old time ally, President Obama’s support for Egypt’s elected President Morsi (whose Muslim Brotherhood connections sparked great concern among the Persian Gulf states) and reduced military aid to the subsequent Egyptian government led by Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi. Russia offered to sell weapons to Egypt, and Saudi Arabia agreed to pay for it. It became obvious that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states were gradually shifting away from Washington towards Moscow. The GCC countries did not join the United States and the EU in imposing economic sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.

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The relationship between the Russian Federation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stretches back to December 1971, when the Soviet Union and the UAE established diplomatic relations.

In 1986, the Soviet embassy in Abu Dhabi was opened and the UAE embassy in Moscow became operational in 1987.

The UAE-Russia relations in general have been going from strength to strength in recent years. The UAE has issued Federal Decree No 91 of 2013 ratifying the cooperation agreement with Russia in the field of peaceful nuclear energy. Also in 2013, the UAE issued Decree No 67 that witnessed the inking of an agreement on the protection of investments and relevant protocol. Several other agreements in the fields of double taxation, aviation, and coordination among the chambers of commerce have also been signed between the two countries. Russia has always emphasized its desire to benefit from the UAE’s proven advantages of open economy and advanced facilities and infrastructure. The UAE can be a major distribution hub for Russian products to the whole world. Investors in the Emirates enjoy many commercial benefits resulting from the country’s tax free environment and ability to seamlessly transfer money. Such factors amply qualify the UAE to be a vital market for Russian investments and industries.

Last September Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of the Department of Economic Development in Dubai, organized a five-day trade mission to Russia along with 36 UAE companies from diverse sectors. It also hosted business forums and bilateral meetings in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. They were attended by a large number of Russian businesses and senior officials, as well as representatives of investment agencies and local institutions. Participants explored prospects for cooperation in investment and trade between companies from the UAE and Russia in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, construction materials, cosmetics, food, detergents and consumer products.

Engineer Saed Al Awadi, chief executive officer of Dubai Exports, explained why the relations with Russia were important for the UAE, «Russia is one of the world's largest economies and a huge consumer market of 142 million people, which makes it an attractive target for UAE companies. Dubai is witnessing exports to Russian markets rising and a 31 per cent increase was seen in 2014 compared to the previous year».

The economic cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Russia has not been damaged by Western sanctions. «The UAE complies with international laws introduced by the United Nations. This is how we regard such situations. I have not seen any sanctions from the UN for now», said UAE Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al Mansoori.

Addressing the fifth meeting of the UAE-Russia joint ministerial committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the UAE maintains historic, friendly and special relations with Russia. These ties are stable and based on the spirit of mutual understanding and respect and a common desire to take them to new heights, he noted.

The two sides reviewed a number of issues related to the latest regional developments, particularly the Syrian crisis. They also touched on current counter-terrorism efforts and the need for the international community to confront terrorist groups. President Putin applauded the UAE’s efforts in combatting this evil.

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The Sultanate of Oman stands tall fending off the attempts from outside to influence its foreign policy decisions. A US-allied Gulf Arab state, Oman sees itself as a conciliator in a volatile region. Being one of the founding members of the GCC, it likes to keep its identity distinct and its policies independent. The implementation of foreign policy based on non-intervention and non-alignment keeps instability at bay and lets Oman hold a double-edged sword.

For instance, it is the only member of Gulf Cooperation Council to preserve friendly relations with Iran. It also benefits the GCC with Oman acting as a mediator between the different parties. Egypt, Iran, and Oman enjoy friendly relations with one another; in fact, the latter two nations have entered into a naval pact that requires them to conduct military exercises together. The Sultanate also boasts special relationship with China.

The ongoing conflict in Yemen is another good example. Oman is the only GCC member who has not joined the Saudi coalition. It is also the only monarchy in the Arab League not do so.

The Sultanate is not mired in sectarian hatred. Oman, with Ibadi majority, views the escalation of sectarian strife between the Middle East’s Shiite and Sunni Muslims as a tragedy for the greater Islamic world.

Ideologically, it has no rivalries. It's neither Sunni, nor Shia, but Ibadi. «We cannot work on peace efforts at the same time we would be part of a military campaign. Those two things do not meet», Oman's Foreign Minister, Yusuf Bin Alawi, told Reuters. «Oman is not part of that campaign for simple reasons – Oman is a nation of peace».

Rather than joining Saudi Arabia in arming Sunni fundamentalists across the region to counter Iran’s extended influence, Oman has avoided taking sides in such conflicts, valuing instead a peaceful resolution. The Sultanate has leveraged its neutrality to develop trustworthy relationships with all sides in the Syrian and Yemeni crises, enabling it to serve as a legitimate and impartial mediator in ways that no other GCC member could.

Last October, Oman's Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met in Damascus to show that Oman could play the role of a mediator between Syria and Assad's adversaries, which include Washington and other Gulf states.

The meeting took place after Russia said Syria needed to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections. Oman has received parties from both sides of the war in recent weeks. Syria's Foreign Minister traveled to Oman to meet Alawi in August and the head of the main West-backed Syrian political opposition met with Alawi in Muscat earlier in October, 2015.

Last August, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a working visit to Qatar held a meeting with Oman’s Foreign Minister, who had arrived in Doha to attend a conference of foreign ministers of the member-countries of the GCC. Sergey Lavrov and Yusuf Bin Alawi discussed topical issues of Russian-Omani relations, emphasizing the importance of stepping up ties and drawing on considerable cooperation potential in various areas.

They also reviewed the current situation in the Middle East, including the conflict in Yemen, where Oman has been playing a useful role as an intermediary, and prospects for developments in the Gulf zone after the signing of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

On September 26, 2015, Russia and Oman marked the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. On the occasion, foreign ministers exchanged greeting cables expressing their satisfaction for the high level of bilateral relations and constant coordination in international issues of mutual interest. The parties noted that over the past 30 years, the relations between the two countries have been constantly progressing and that is evident in the many bilateral cooperation agreements signed between the two countries, especially in culture and education fields. The joint communique establishing the diplomatic relations was signed on September 26th, 1985.

In 2009 Russia and Oman signed an important agreement on nuclear energy cooperation that could see the two countries building reactors and conducting research together. Hopefully, Mr Lavrov’s visit will promote the conclusion of other agreement to boost the relationship.

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With lucrative economic benefits looming to boost the promotion of Russia-Oman, Russia-the UAE ties, the security issue are doomed to steal the show. The US has announced its decision to deploy regular army components in Syria and Iraq, and Turkey is evidently preparing an invasion to create a «safe-zone» on Syrian soil. The Geneva talks on Syria are hitting snags on the way. The animosity between Saudi Arabia and Iran negatively affects the situation in the Middle East. A US-led intervention in Libya appears to be imminent. Russia and its GCC partners have to address complicated agenda of many points inching closer to each other in the times of hard choices to make.

The ongoing visit to hold talks with the leaders of Sunni states proves that all the talks about Russia’s military operation in Syria making it «an enemy of Sunni Muslims» hold no water.