Israel is taking part in a huge US-led naval exercise in the Middle East
The nation’s participation in the naval exercise is being held in the Middle East. It will be the first time that it has publicly joined Saudi Arabia and Oman, two countries it has no diplomatic relations with despite its normalisation of ties with some Gulf states.
The International Maritime Exercise 2022 includes approximately 60 countries and comes amid heightened Gulf tensions after missile attacks on the UAE by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The UAE intercepted a missile on Monday during a visit by Israel’s president, the third such attack in two weeks claimed by the Houthi rebels, who are battling a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE.
Israel normalised relations with Gulf states the UAE and Bahrain in 2020, brought together by shared worries about Iran, and first held a joint naval drill with those two countries in November.
