Panelists Discuss Middle East Tension, Cooperation

Dignitaries from Saudi Arabia and Israel discussed the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and how the world should move forward from the turmoil at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum panel event on Monday night at the Institute of Politics.

The discussion, moderated by Belfer Center Director and Kennedy School Professor Graham T. Allison ’62, centered around international relations and sources of tension in the region, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., said that even with the massive scale of casualties, countries are only concerned with managing the crisis, not ending it entirely.

“They are focused on scoring points in a tennis match, rather than concluding the match,” he said.

Dan Meridor, former Israeli deputy prime minister and minister of intelligence and atomic energy, emphasized the role of religious differences in many of the conflicts in the region, such as the conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslim combatants. He said it was important for countries to work together and develop solutions that take these differences into account.

“I think the Middle East is in for a major political, historical revolution,” Meridor said. “We’re not at the end of the storm. We’re in the eye of the storm.”

Al-Faisal particularly said he was concerned that providing Iran with uranium enrichment capabilities might lead other countries in the region to demand those same capabilities, potentially leading to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world.

Amidst talk of war and tension, both panelists highlighted the possible benefits of cooperation between their two nations.

“Saudi Arabia and Israel are countries of stability, and can do more together to help stability take its place [in the region],” Meridor said.

Ali A. Hakim ’18, a writer for the Harvard Political Review who has reported on Middle Eastern affairs in the past, said he was drawn to the event by the distinguished panelists and the topic of discussion.

“It’s not often that you get to see representatives from those two states in a dialogue like this,” he said.

Hakim said he liked how Meridor and Al-Faisal balanced out their disagreements with the consensus that unity between the two nations was needed to support the unsteady atmosphere in the region.

“At the end of the day they were both unhappy with the level of cooperation that had been reached between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” he said.