Leftist snobs will hate to hear it… but it’s thanks to Trump and his Israel-Arab alliance that Iran’s attack failed so miserably. Now, says ANDREW NEIL, Biden must hold his nose and build on Donald’s success

The failure of Iran’s massive missile and drone attack last weekend was clearly a triumph for Israeli air defense.

But it was equally a triumph for the meticulous diplomacy and military prowess of the United States, which has been working for years to engineer a more coordinated regional response in the event of major Iranian aggression. Saturday saw these efforts pay off.

Behind the scenes and with little fanfare, America managed to forge an alliance that included not only Israel and the US, but also Europe’s two major military powers, Britain and France, and, most important of all, several major Arab players, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and even Saudi Arabia.

The extent of the cooperation is remarkable and the resulting near-total destruction of the Iranian attack breathtaking.

From the moment Iran launched its missiles and drones against Israel, early warning radar stations in several Gulf Arab states sensed that an attack was underway and fed data and intelligence to the US regional military command in Qatar, which in turn Israel and its countries warned. allies across the region.

Israeli, American, British, French and Jordanian fighter jets flew over Jordanian airspace to counter the incoming air attack.

Israel has readied its formidable air defense systems, Iron Dome and Arrow 3.

US warships, including guided missile destroyers in the Mediterranean, and US land bases in the region prepared to take out Iranian missiles and drones.

As a result, most of the Iranian attack never even entered Israeli airspace. Those that did were destroyed by Israel’s anti-missile defense systems, which, thanks to allied help, were never overwhelmed as the Iranians had hoped.

Without the help of its allies, old and new, the Iranian attack would have had at least limited success.

The remarkable cooperation between Israel and its allies did not come about at the last minute.

The US has for years urged Arab capitals to recognize the need for regional air defense cooperation to counter Iranian hostilities. The strategy received a real boost from the signing of the Abraham Accords under President Trump, which ushered in a new era of cooperation between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Even countries that did not join, such as Saudi Arabia, accepted that a new era of cooperation with Israel against a common enemy, Iran, had begun.

But not President Biden. He entered the Oval Office in January 2021 with wild talk about isolating Saudi Arabia and treating it like a “pariah” while signaling he was ready for detente with Iran.

Funds were released for the mullahs in Tehran that should never have been transferred. The Abraham Accords were left to atrophy, largely and pathetically because they were a Trump legacy. The foreign policy establishment around Biden never liked them anyway.

The US has paid dearly for this Trump Derangement Syndrome. Instead of pushing the Saudis to join the Accords, they were given the cold shoulder, leading Riyadh to try to appease Tehran.

But even as the White House struck the wrong tone, important groundbreaking work was being done behind the scenes.

Two years ago, America moved its military command center for Israel from Europe to the Central Command (CENTCOM) in Qatar. This was hugely important because it meant that America could deal with Israel and its Arab allies from the same command center, making intelligence sharing and the coordination of early warning systems more closely intertwined.

Biden and his foreign policy team learned slowly. But ultimately they saw virtue in encouraging closer cooperation between Israel and relatively friendly Arab countries.

Under US auspices, a meeting was secretly convened in Egypt in the spring of 2022 to begin coordinating an Israeli-Arab response to Iranian missile and drone attacks – a prophetic move that bore fruit last weekend threw off.

It was even beginning to dawn on Biden that it made sense to revive the Abraham Accords he had foolishly ignored. The priority, belatedly, became getting the Saudis on board. The prospects for success so shocked the Iranians that on October 7 they gave Hamas the green light to attack Israel.

It was undoubtedly a setback: the Saudis got cold feet and progress froze as the horrors of Gaza unfolded. But after last weekend’s efforts to get the Saudis to sign the accords, they are back on track.

It will now be a major goal of American foreign policy, as it should be no matter who is in the White House after the election.

The Saudis are already sharing intelligence with Tel Aviv as if they were part of the accords.

The real significance of last weekend is that it revealed that there now exists an alleged alliance of Israel, America, the more robust European powers and a collection of key Sunni Arab states in the making, with the common goal of confronting the Iranian aggression that is is intended to achieve its goal of regional hegemony.

It took a long time and there were many wrong turns along the way.

President Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq under a false pretext demoted the only regional power with the military might to contain Iran on its own.

President Obama’s dithering on Syria gave way to Iran’s move to prop up the tottering Assad regime and create new bases from which its allies could threaten Israel and U.S. bases in the region. It also ensured that Moscow returned as a major player in the region.

Biden, as we have seen, also made his mistakes.

There is now an opportunity to right these wrongs and create an alliance that will thwart Iran’s ambition to be the regional superpower.

The events of last weekend have already put an end to the foolish talk on both sides of the Atlantic about an arms embargo on Israel. There is also a better chance of getting a new aid package for Israel (plus Ukraine and Taiwan) through Congress.

Those in Congress who oppose funding for Israeli air defense systems like Iron Dome and Arrow 3 should be ashamed of themselves. If there had been no anti-missile defense, Iranian missiles would have wreaked havoc in Israel and the region would now be in flames.

President Biden will have to undermine the vocal Palestinian lobby in his party and its broader supporters in the US, who are doing themselves no favors by blocking access to the Golden Gate Bridge or Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

It’s performative nonsense that only serves to alienate regular people who want to go about their business.

And think about this: At a time when more and more of the Sunni Arab world wants to find common cause with Israel, by what possible standard would it make sense for America to turn its back on Israel now?

The very thought is absurd.

As the 21st century gathers pace, America will want to deploy more military and diplomatic resources in the Pacific to counter China’s growing power. But the country cannot even consider a partial withdrawal from the Middle East without maintaining a robust security structure of allies.

That process is now underway. In a divided America, where bipartisan agreement is scarce, this is certainly an important policy that sensible Republicans and Democrats can agree on.