Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, was in Tel Aviv on Monday holding a flurry of meetings with military officials amid increasing speculation that Iran will attack Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh last week in its capital, sparking a broader regional conflagration.

Kurilla’s visit to Israel, where he met with IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, comes as U.S. officials work through diplomatic channels to attempt to restore calm to the region or, if Iran does attack, ensure that its Middle East allies are ready — and willing — to come to Israel’s aid.

An Iranian attack on Israel last April with some 300 missiles, rockets and killer drones was largely thwarted by an impressive regional coalition that is believed to have included fighter jets and defensive systems deployed by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt — all countries that fall under the umbrella of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). U.S., British and French forces — as well as Israeli — were also involved in the complicated defensive operation that took place in the skies beyond Israel’s borders.

Now, as Israelis prepare the home front for a potential attack, which could come again from Iran and/or from neighboring Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen at any time, there is hope that CENTCOM, whose mandate is to coordinate military operations and activities between its allies in the Middle East, will manage to pull these countries together again.

“It is a very delicate dance,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, told Jewish Insider, referring to the moderate Sunni states that make up CENTCOM.

“Arab countries do not want to be seen as defending Israel; on the other hand they have an interest, which, of course, they will not say, in weakening Iran,” Guzanksy explained. “In the end, they understand that Iran is the main regional threat, not Israel, but they have their publics, they have their agendas, and they cannot go hand in hand with Israel openly.”

Alongside Kurilla’s visit to Israel — and reports over the weekend that the U.S. was beefing up its military presence in the region to defend its close ally — U.S. political leaders were also working diplomatic channels in an attempt to restore calm and ensure support if there is a broader escalation in the 10-month-old war Israel has been fighting with Iran’s nearby proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

According to readouts, President Joe Biden spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Monday, stressing the need for de-escalation in the region but also discussing ways to “enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries.”

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Tony Blinken held calls with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani “to discuss the latest diplomatic efforts to reduce regional tensions.”

But tensions continued to rise overnight Monday, with reports that several U.S. soldiers were injured in a suspected rocket attack at an Iraqi air base and CENTOM saying that its forces had destroyed an attempted UAV attack by the Yemen-based Iranian-backed Houthi militia over the Gulf of Aden.

“I think we will see something similar to what we saw in April,” Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JI, referring to the direct attack from Iranian soil on Israel that forced many countries in the region to take action.

“They [Arab states] do not want to see their airspaces filled with missiles, they are part of CENTCOM, and this is a joint effort,” added Kuperwasser, former head of the Research Division in the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate. “It is in their interest not to see Iran successful.”

He said, however, that, like last time, he did not expect to see the collaboration with Israel publicized but “they are also targets of Iran and that is why they need to keep all channels of communication open,” including appearing neutral opposite Iran. 

On Sunday, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi met with his counterpart in Tehran, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani, to discuss the regional tensions and the bilateral relations between Jordan and Iran, a statement from Jordan’s foreign ministry said. Both Jordan and Saudi Arabia reportedly asked Iran on Monday not to use their airspace if the country does decide to carry out an attack on Israel.

“This is classic hedging,” INSS’ Guzansky said, explaining that as Iran becomes stronger in the region countries such as Jordan and other moderate Sunni states “will play along trying to appease Iran and keep relations as calm as possible.”

“On the other hand, Iran is also their main threat, so they need to be better prepared for Iran,” he said.

Asked if that means the emergence of some kind of “Abrahamic Alliance” – a concept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted in his recent speech in Congress – Guzansky said that was doubtful.

“This is not an alliance, an alliance is something big and permanent based on shared values, like the U.S.-Israel relationship or perhaps NATO,” he said. “What we are seeing now is a coalition of willing countries who face some similar threats and see the benefit of working together.”

However, Yaakov Katz, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and the author of three books on Israeli military affairs, noted that if Arab states participate “once again in defending against Iranian aggression, it is an illustration of the amazing dynamic that exists already today, as well as the potential to create a broader coalition that stands against radical Islamic terrorism and expansionism in the region.”

“The Abraham Accords normalized Israeli relations with some of the Gulf States and Morocco,” Katz said. “But there is still a lot that can be done in terms of creating a military alliance and defense pact that sees the different countries actively working together to fight against rogue actors like Iran, which seek to undermine stability and wreak havoc throughout the Middle East threatening not just Israel but also the moderate Sunni states.”

Asher Fredman, director of the Misgav Institute for National Security, also said that such military collaboration could pave the way to future regional cooperation in a range of different areas.

“Arab states such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia will likely take part in U.S.-led efforts to counter an Iranian missile attack against Israel, not in order to defend Israel, but because they strongly oppose Iranian threats to their sovereignty and stability,” he said.

Fredman noted that both Jordan and Saudi Arabia see Iran as a key threat, with Saudi Arabia suffering from Houthi attacks and Jordan experiencing attempts by Tehran to undermine the Hashemite regime’s stability.

“Looking forward, regional cooperation in countering Iran’s attacks highlights the potential utility and mutual benefit of an enhanced Middle East security architecture, encompassing air and missile defense, maritime and cyber security, R&D and more,” he said.

“Building such a Western-aligned security architecture should be a key goal of the next U.S. administration,” Fredman said.