Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet his host Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday at Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula.

Local experts widely believed that the Iranian issue would be one of the key topics discussed by the two leaders, saying Netanyahu's first trip abroad since assuming office is aimed at looking for Arab ally against Iran.

Real common ground?   

Israeli government sources said the talks would deal with the whole range of pressing regional issues, from Iran to the Palestinian reconciliation talks, to the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured three years ago by Palestinian militants.

"There is a unique opportunity for cooperation," The Jerusalem Post quoted a government source as saying, "Not only do we have common goals -- regional stability and strengthening the peace process -- but also we have common threats: Iran and its loyal proxies Hezbollah and Hamas."

For years Israel has made no secret of its fears that the Islamic Republic of Iran wishes to destroy the Jewish state. Local analysts said there had been growing signals from Arab states, particularly from Egypt and the Gulf Arab countries, that they too are worried by the intentions of Tehran.

"I don't think Israel is Iran's main target, rather the Gulf countries and everything that's closer to her," said Ephraim Asculai, an associate at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies.

"It's because of all sorts of things, including the traditional relations between Shiites and Sunnis. It's also because the Arab world traditionally does not like foreigners. It's also about nations. The Persians and the Arabs are not the same nation."

There are long standing issues between Shiite Iran and the Sunni world, which is dominated by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Tehran and the Arab world are embroiled in an ongoing, oftentimes bitter dispute, much of it dating back to 1980 -- a year after Israel and Egypt signed a peace accord.

A street in Tehran was then named in honor of Khaled Islambouli, the man who assassinated then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

"There's real common ground between Israel and the moderate Arab states, which unfortunately we have not taken advantage of," said David Menashri, who directs the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.

"If today you ask the moderate Arab world -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan -- 'who is your enemy?' It's no longer Israel."

Overstating case

However, Menashri pointed out, this was no longer simply about Iran and its Middle East neighbors as the United States had entered "pre-pre-dialogue" with Iran.

Following initial contacts between Washington and Tehran, the pre-dialogue, defining where the talks will take place, their schedule and of course their content, is certainly to begin.

Even though it was highly unlikely the nuclear issue would be the first on the table, Menashri suggested Israel could not afford to wait for the entire diplomatic process to move forward.

Israel hoped the Arab countries to act simultaneously now to pressure Iran politically, diplomatically and economically to ensure Iran succumbs, said Menashri.

Asculai said one of the problems is that the opposition to Iran in the Arab world is not often made public by political leaders. "It's not someone's official policy, it also can't be."

Some Egyptian commentators, however, warned against overstating the case.

Gamal Abdel Gawad, head of the international relations unit of the Al-Ahram Political and Strategic Studies, was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying that there was a sense in Cairo that Israel was trying to "divert the world's attention from Arab-Israeli issues to confronting the Iranian nuclear program."

While Iran was a main concern for Egypt and many other countries in the region, the Palestinian issue remains their priority, Gawad said.

"I think the Israeli prime minister is having difficulty marketing his views in that regard not only in the Middle East, but also abroad," he said.

"There is a deep belief in the Arab world that... if you want to deny Iran the many bargaining chips it is using, you have to address the Arab-Israeli conflict."

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2009)