4. Saudi Arabia
In a classic “enemy of my enemy” move, Saudi Arabia and Israel have become de facto allies, with a common goal of containing Iran, especially after President Obama signed the Iran Deal. Both nations share the same patron, the United States, and benefit from its influence in the region and although they (still) don’t have diplomatic relationships, there are signs of Saudis’ officials thawing toward Israel and even suggestions of secret cooperation between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. However, not everything is as rosy as it appears and there may be troubles brewing for Israel under the surface in the desert kingdom.
Despite massive oil revenues, Saudi Arabia can go bankrupt by 2020, due to low oil prices and huge government spending. Most of that spending has gone to equipping one of the most modern militaries in the region, with dozens of billions poured into purchasing Abrams tanks, Bradley armored vehicles, Eurofighter Typhoons, F-15 Strike Eagles, Apache attack helicopters, French frigates and US corvettes, and many other weapons and support systems. In case that Riyadh government can’t afford to pay salaries, that army can easily switch its loyalties to someone else, like religious fanatics inside the kingdom responsible for sponsoring Wahhabists worldwide. Even if army remains loyal to King Salman, Saudis can easily turn to a time-honored tradition of Arab dictators when faced with a domestic turmoil – strike at the Jewish state. Although Saudi army doesn’t pose an existential threat to Israel, despite its modern equipment, (they are actually struggling against Houthi rebels in Yemen, due to lack of proper training and low morale), it does have enough teeth to cause some serious troubles and inflict heavy losses on Israel Defense Force.
