Both US and regional officials held a secret meeting in March of top military officials from "Israel" and Arab countries to discuss how they could coordinate against Iran's growing missile and drone capabilities, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The previously undisclosed talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, were the first time such a high-ranking group of Israeli and Arab officers met under US military auspices to discuss how to defend against "a common threat."

The meeting brought together top military officers from "Israel", Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan, and came as "Israel" and its neighbors, according to officials cited by WSJ, are in the early stages of discussing potential military cooperation.

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The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain both sent representatives to the meeting. The US was represented by Gen. Frank McKenzie, then the head of the US Central Command.

Such military cooperation was not thought to be possible for decades. US commanders in the Middle East attempted to persuade Arab states to coordinate their air defenses without involving "Israel," which was viewed as an adversary by much of the Arab world at the official level.

Several changes facilitated the talks, including what WSJ described as shared fears of Iran, improved political ties signaled by the normalization agreement with "Tel Aviv", and the Trump administration's decision to expand Central Command's area of coverage to include "Israel" in January 2021.

Arab access to Israeli airspace 

Another factor driving increased military cooperation is the normalizing Arab regimes' desire for access to Israeli air defense technology and weapons at a time when the United States is shifting its military priorities to counter China and Russia, according to WSJ.

In a statement, Col. Joe Buccino, a Central Command spokesperson, didn’t acknowledge the Sharm El Sheikh meeting but said the command “maintains a firm commitment to increasing regional cooperation and developing integrated air and missile defense architecture to protect our force and our regional partners.” He claimed that Iran “is the primary destabilizing factor across the Middle East.” 

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Spokespersons for "Israel" and Arab countries, with the exception of the UAE, declined or did not respond to requests for comment on the meeting. The UAE did not comment on the talks but did address the issue of cooperation in general.

“The UAE is not party to any regional military alliance or cooperation targeting any specific country,” the government there said in a statement. “Furthermore, the UAE is not aware of any formal discussions relating to any such regional military alliance.”

States to counter "air threats"

The Sharm El Sheikh talks came after secret discussions in a lower-level working group among representatives from Middle Eastern countries about how they could collaborate to detect and defend against air threats, Marine Maj. Gen. Scott Benedict, the Central Command's then-chief planning officer, was a member of the working group, said to WSJ.

According to people familiar with the Sharm El Sheikh talks, participants reached an agreement in principle on procedures for rapid notification when "aerial threats are detected."

For the time being, such notifications would be sent via phone or computer rather than through high-speed digital data sharing akin to that used by the US military. Officials also discussed how decisions about which nations' forces would intercept aerial threats might be made.

According to people familiar with the meeting, those understandings were not legally binding. The next step is to secure political leaders' support for codifying notification arrangements.

Biden to visit "Israel" and KSA

In mid-July, President Biden plans to visit "Israel" and Saudi Arabia. A spokeswoman for the National Security Council said the White House supported what it called "broadening and deepening Arab-Israeli ties," but gave no further details.

For decades, the US has hoped to build an integrated air defense shield in the Middle East, one that would connect radars, satellites, and other sensors across the region.

Arab Gulf countries' efforts to foster such cooperation have long been hampered by their unwillingness to share sensitive data that could expose their own vulnerabilities, as well as their fears that Saudi Arabia would dominate such a partnership.

Read next: Biden: Israeli security part of reason for KSA trip

This coincides with the recent military exercises by the Israeli occupation forces over the Mediterranean Sea that simulated attacks and airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The drill, an official statement by the IOF read, included "long-range flight, aerial refueling, and striking distant targets."