The business of security and its role in Israel's normalization on the world stage

On August 13, 2020, we were able to witness how the United Arab Emirates and Israel met to, officially and after days of negotiations facilitated by the United States, normalize diplomatic relations and sign a peace and cooperation agreement. This historic episode in 21st century international relations has triggered similar reactions throughout the Middle East. Just a few weeks later Bahrain joined the normalization and recognition of the Israeli state, and intense meetings with representatives of the governments of Sudan and Oman make us think that these may be next.

This has been a hard blow for the Palestinian population, who after decades of occupation of their homes, ethnic contempt and international rejection saw hope in the Arab States in their fight against the single state model, according to them designed by and for the Israelis. , who ignores their presence and demands. Progress towards the normalization of diplomatic relations means forgetting the statements that President Netanyahu made just a year ago. “Today I announce my intention, after the establishment of a new government, to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and north of the Dead Sea.”, words that set the news on fire around the world, and that for the Palestinians meant the almost total loss of the little territory they had left. 

US President Donald Trump himself congratulated himself for having facilitated and supervised the negotiations that would lead the two Gulf countries to recognize Israel despite the possible annexation on the way, saying that “had sown peace in the Middle East", insinuating that he had even done a favor to the Palestinian population. However, we cannot forget that Netanyahu, on the same day the peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates came out, clearly reiterated that “there were no changes in his plan to extend his sovereignty".

This last fact makes it clear to us that for the Palestinian population, peace continues to be an uncertain future, which seems like it will never come. Non-governmental organizations, human rights platforms, and even international organizations such as the European Union condemn the situation suffered by the Palestinian people. «[The annexation] will have significant consequences on the relations we [the EU] currently enjoy with Israel. We ask that you avoid such a step before it is too late.” declared Josep Borrell, High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union, warning of the possible actions that it would take if Netanyahu did not follow its recommendations. However, months later and without changes in the Israeli Prime Minister's strategy, the board remains the same, and neither the European Union nor anyone else has taken action against such plans; On the contrary, we see how more countries lend their support. 

But what is behind this silence? How have countries that seemed so far apart from each other been able to agree to a peace that had been trying for years, while the underlying problem remains unresolved? There is no single answer, however, there is one crucial factor that may have had a determining influence: the security market.

Since its proclamation, Israel has been in a geographical point that has determined a constant belligerent climate. Its position in the heart of the Arab world was a provocation for its neighbors, who, with the premise of defending the Palestinian people, have attacked its borders. This made Israel put all its resources into improving the military system, one of the most advanced and developed in the world at the moment, but above all, the national security and counterterrorism mechanisms.

At first, this was a mere matter of domestic politics. The security industry constituted a tool of the State of Israel itself to protect itself from the outside, without commercial purposes as such. But everything changed very soon. Although it would not be an exact date, we can place in the 11/XNUMX events the great awakening of the security market, and the rise of Israeli economic power. 

As we can see in the graph above, the Israeli economy has not stopped growing, and we see considerable growth starting in the new millennium. And the new terrorist threat was something that no State was accustomed to. No one knew how to control these unforeseen attacks, which without the need for proclaimed wars, occurred in large cities, leaving countless losses.. None other than Israel, which had already been subjected to this phenomenon for years, had worked on unprecedented espionage and security strategies to detect it, and was prepared to open its market to a desperate world.

Today we find the traces of Israeli signatures in all national security departments, local police stations, important buildings, airports... In his book 'The Shock Doctrine', journalist Naomi Klein gives us several examples: 

• The recent security system used by Buckingham Palace (London) was designed and built by the important Israeli company Magal.

• During April 2007, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents working on the Mexican border were trained in intensive courses facilitated by the Golan Group, founded by former Israeli officers.
• The first smart and biometric ID cards were used in the cities of Los Angeles and Ohio, produced by the giant SuperCom.
• ELTA, a subsidiary company of Israel Aerospace Industries, built a system for capturing drones at airports, which was introduced in 2018 at Gatwick Airport, and is now purchased by many other airports around the world.
• The President of the Catalan Parliament himself, Roger Torrent, was spied on by telephone through the so-called Pegasus software from NSO Group, the controversial Israeli cyber intelligence firm.
• And if that were not enough, the Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona hired a few months ago facial recognition technology designed by AnyVision -a firm advised by a former Mossad agent-, in order to identify individuals with criminal records related to theft, and thus prevent the risk of theft in their establishments.

These are just a few examples that allow us to understand the magnitude of the Israeli security lobby, and its importance in ensuring the power of the Jewish State and its ascending position on the international table.

However, there is something that remains unresolved in this matter, and that is the sudden interest of the Arab powers in negotiating with Israel. A priori, we might think that the security market has no relationship, since they have never been particularly concerned about developing an anti-terrorist control strategy.. Furthermore, it would be naive and simplistic to think that the boom in security and data control that emerged after the attacks on the Twin Towers is a mere matter of the fight against terror. The post-11/XNUMX era is characterized by fear, a weapon that many have taken advantage of for profit, since never before has it been so easy to control the population with hardly any dissent..

Nowadays we offer all our data to the cause of security, sometimes without even realizing it. These are used as market analysis tools, business marketing strategies or as resources for more effective electoral propaganda, the most worrying thing. That is why States around the globe have chosen to acquire this type of services in which the Israelis are pioneers, both for the private sector and for the public and governmental sectors in some cases. The Gulf countries were not going to be less, and it is very possible that they see normalizing ties with Israel as an opportunity for their companies, and most dangerously, for their political purposes - which are already characterized by control and high repression. , something that could be accentuated after the pact.

Furthermore, this pact represents both Abu Dhabi and Manama's entry into the Western globalized world, a complicated step due to the involvement of the two States in large belligerent operations. Yoel Guzansky writes for The Middle East Institute that, at least for the United Arab Emirates “Its main objective is to improve its image on Capitol Hill, since it has been deteriorating in recent years due to different issues, including its role in the Saudi campaign in Yemen, a country suffering from what humanitarian organizations consider 'the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.' world'. By strengthening its position in Washington, the UAE hopes to gain access to the most advanced security hardware and software that the United States was not willing to provide until now, including armed drones, F-35 jets and intelligence tools. 

This analysis reveals two dangerous factors present in the normalization of diplomatic relations: 1. The washing of the image of the Arab States despite military interventions such as that of Yemen and 2. the increase in the presence of security policies based on the perpetuation of the conflict instead of seeking peace, hand in hand with population control measures.

But what we must pay more attention to is the economic model that allows these serious factors to arise. “From a political and social perspective, however, Israel should serve as something more: a stern warning. The fact that Israel continues to enjoy exponential prosperity, even as it wages war against its neighbors and increases brutality in the occupied territories, demonstrates how dangerous it is to build an economy based on the premise of constant war and escalating disasters. Klein commented in his work, cited above. As he explains well, the State of Israel has taught the world how to make terror and chaos profitable.

This is why the era of normalization of diplomatic and commercial relations in the Arab scenario has come to stay, at least until the current economic system does not put a stop to the phenomenon that we have just analyzed, and therefore, to the constant conflict. It is true that negotiations between both sides are important and necessary; However, these cannot be within the framework of human rights if the Palestinian population - to whom the matter concerns - is not consulted and respected, nor if war, terrorism or fear continues to be used as a commercial market. Unless security stops being a business, world peace will be far from being achieved.