Just prior to US President Donald Trump’s arrival in Jerusalem May 22, the virtual emergency sirens that had screamed in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had toned down somewhat. The chances that Trump would present his diplomatic initiative here had lessened.

The danger still exists, but on a slightly lower scale; it is no longer a "clear and present danger" (an Israeli idiom often used in the context of an imminent terror attack). Trump has more important things on his agenda, headed first and foremost by his personal political survival. Nevertheless, Netanyahu was clearly nervous in the 24-hour period prior to the American president’s arrival. The prime minister got into arguments and altercations with some of his ministers, he blew up a session of the coalition heads and he conducted a very tense Cabinet meeting on the evening of May 21. Air Force One was due to arrive the next day, and Netanyahu still had no clue who — or what — would emerge from the plane to greet him.

There is much commotion behind the scenes (not just in the political system). There are those in Israel’s security system who are also breaking their heads over the possibility of the renewal of the diplomatic process. According to a senior Israeli security source, the new concept that is being bandied around in the halls and in high-security meetings is “a regional security alliance.” This concept should be the icing on the top of the much-spoken-about “regional process.” Such an alliance should serve as a collective insurance policy of the various players, the big prize desired by all the countries that belong — directly or indirectly — to the pragmatic “Sunni bloc.” The leaders of this group are the ones who listened very carefully to the president’s speech in Riyadh on May 21.

But in order for that to happen, Israel must advance on the Palestinian circuit. In other words, renewing negotiations toward the two-state solution and showing that Israel is serious about it. The Saudis, together with additional Sunni states (mainly in the Gulf), have already agreed to adopt symbolic gestures discussed in the past, such as opening up its airspace to Israeli planes. But the “real thing” is supposed to transpire only after real progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. And the “real thing” is a regional alliance involving Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, perhaps Kuwait — and Israel, of course.