The details of the dramatic moments in which Israel halted the largest ballistic missile attack in world history on Saturday night will remain officially undisclosed. There is no doubt that the Israeli Air Force pilots and air control personnel excelled in their performance. However, they could not have done it alone.
Even in the Regional Cooperation Department of the IDF's Strategic Division, they were burning the midnight oil in the late hours on Saturday and early Sunday.
The language used in those hours was Arabic, and the content of the conversations was intelligence updates based on developments before, during, and after the attack. More than one country was on the line with the Israeli officers – and not all have formal ties with Israel. In other words, the coalition that operated against Iran extended beyond the countries that have an official peace agreement with Israel.
According to foreign reports, in addition to Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates, there was also close contact with Saudi Arabia that night. It is worth noting that the UAE possesses Barak missiles, and that a third of Israel's defense exports in 2022 were directed toward the Abraham Accords countries. These numbers speak for themselves.
Going back to that dramatic night – secrecy does not allow the disclosure of the operational content of the conversations between the Israeli officers and their Arab counterparts. What can be said, according to foreign reports, is that the Israeli Air Force intercepted some of the drones as they were flying in the airspaces of neighboring countries.
For this to happen, the entities in those countries that maintain contact with the IDF were also awake all night. They received intelligence updates from the Israeli side and passed them on to their forces. In parallel, they relayed the picture known to them to their Israeli counterparts.
Cooperation between the IDF and Arab military headquarters had been taking place in an intimate and close manner for several years. Due to the sentiment on the Arab street, the parties have concealed the degree of the connection, but clues have been abundantly provided in recent years.
The sight of Israeli paratroopers jumping shoulder-to-shoulder with counterparts from the UAE and Bahrain sent a strong hint to those with keen observation skills. The sight of Emirati aircraft taking off alongside the blue Star of David, from runways in Europe, was not intended for air games. Mutual defense memoranda between the countries, secret meetings between IDF officers and their counterparts several times a year, the joint agreement initiated and led by the United States, the exercises conducted since the end of the previous decade, the recent enhancement of operational readiness through coordinated interception of previous missiles and drones from Iraq and Yemen, and even the coalition's failure to stop the Iranian attack on the UAE in 2022 – all seemed to prepare the players for the tense hours between Saturday and Sunday.
The glorious operational success – which benefited from no small miracle, with half of the Iranian missiles experiencing failure – is particularly a success for the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which translated the players' interests into practical military-political action. This is the axis around which Iran's regional enemies have united.
Still, it cannot be called an alliance. According to the mutual agreements, each country decides how to act in every situation based on its own considerations. In other words, the content is determined concretely according to the situation. However, the communication channels, common language, staff work, mutual understanding of capabilities, and sensitivities of each side were all prepared in previous years under fundamental American leadership. The cooperation works by having a shared system managed by CENTCOM, into which information is streamed. However, beyond that, bilateral contact takes place between Israel and its regional partners.
The preparations were so thorough that no special regional preparedness was required ahead of the Iranian attack, only the implementation of what had been built in the past. It was no coincidence that the commander of the US Central Command, Michael (Erik) Kurilla, visited Israel and the region intensively in recent years. Much of the credit for the regional and operational success belongs to him.
This is how the cooperation worked, very successfully, sending a clear message to the entire world. A new bloc has hatched from its egg, building wings and muscles: Israel, the West, and Arab countries, together against Iran.
