To Netanyahu’s list of foreign policy failures, we can now add the “Mecca Agreement” – the security alliance signed between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey on August 7, which also includes an option for Egyptian participation. There is no need to get hysterical or prepare the IDF for war against this new alliance. There is also no need to adopt Netanyahu’s instinct and explain that “the whole world is against us.” We need to do something much simpler: ask how we got here and draw lessons from it. Not long ago, the Biden administration was working on a historic deal: normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Israel’s integration into a new regional framework, and the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project – an infrastructure and trade project that was supposed to connect India to Europe. Israel was supposed to be the bridge, and Saudi Arabia was supposed to be the partner. Instead, Saudi Arabia is building an alternative alliance for itself. This does not mean that Saudi Arabia has become an enemy; Saudi Arabia understands that it cannot wait for Israel. This is how rational countries operate; they do not wait for the Israeli government to decide whether it wants regional integration or another round of “total victory.” They advance according to their interests – and the Saudi interests now include building alternatives. This is the direct cost of Netanyahu’s doctrine: the illusion that the conflict........

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