Israel, Saudi Arabia, and churn in the Middle East: The view from India

The United States is trying to forge a mutual defence treaty with Saudi Arabia, and help Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Iran, such that "Israel and Saudi Arabia are trading places", columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in The New York Times last week. According to the article, the Saudi-US deal will pivot on the specific ways in which the US will control the civilian nuclear energy programme that the kingdom will get; the precise — whether explicit or less formal — nature of the mutual defence pact; and on Saudi Arabia's commitment to not move from US dollars to…