Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — The United States has envisioned new power alignments in the Middle East that could include Israel cooperating more closely with the Gulf Arab states.

Officials said such factors as the Arab Spring, the threat from Iran and the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood have opened opportunities throughout the Middle East.

“What I’m suggesting [is] the possibility of new and different alliances in the region in response to this instability,” U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said.

In a briefing on March 31, Dempsey said he was discussing with Israel the strategic situation in the Middle East. The U.S. military chief said Arab states could be reviewing their enmity toward the Jewish state.

“[There could be] an outreach to other nations who may not have been willing to be partners in the past,” Dempsey said.

One U.S. scenario was an Israeli alliance with the GCC. Dempsey pointed
to the shared interests by both sides to stop Iran’s threat as well as the
expansion of Al Qaida.

“What we discussed was the possibility that there were opportunities
that would present themselves because of the instability around them that
could create a different web of alliances than existed before,” Dempsey
said.

Dempsey has been hosted by Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
Gantz said U.S. military cooperation with Israel remained professional, open
and candid.

“We can definitely cooperate on the challenges and actually try and turn
some of the threats that we face into opportunity,” Gantz said.

Officials said Dempsey was discussing military cooperation and security
arrangements that would advance U.S. plans for a Palestinian state in the
West Bank and Jerusalem. They said Dempsey was supporting the visit of
Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrived in Israel on March 31 and twice
met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he left the following day.

“I think there are enough issues across the region in common that it
should provide an opportunity for greater cooperation,” Dempsey said. “So
our allies become allies with each other.”

  Arab Spring, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Muslim Brotherhood, U.S. suggests Israel form new alliances in changing Mideast