Leftist snobs will hate to hear it... but it's thanks to Trump and his Israel-Arab alliance that Iran's attack failed so miserably. Now, says ANDREW NEIL, Biden must hold his nose and build on Donald's success

The failure of Iran's mass missile and drone attack last weekend was clearly a triumph for Israel's air defenses.

But it was equally a triumph for the painstaking diplomacy and military prowess of the United States, which has been working for years to engineer a more coordinated regional response in the event of major Iranian aggression. Saturday saw these efforts come to fruition.

Behind the scenes and with little fanfare, America managed to bring together an alliance which didn't just include Israel and the US but Europe's two most important military powers, Britain and France, and — most significant of all — several major Arab players, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and even Saudi Arabia.

The extent of the co-operation is remarkable, the resulting near-total destruction of the Iranian attack breathtaking.

Right from the moment Iran launched its missiles and drones against Israel, early warning radar stations in several Arab Gulf states picked up that an attack was underway and fed data and intelligence to US regional military command in Qatar which, in turn, alerted Israel and its allies across the region.

The failure of Iran's mass missile and drone attack last weekend was clearly a triumph for Israel's air defenses. But it was equally a triumph for the painstaking diplomacy and military prowess of the United States.

Israeli, American, British, French and Jordanian fighter jets were scrambled over Jordanian airspace to meet the incoming aerial onslaught.

Israel readied its formidable air defense systems, Iron Dome and Arrow 3.

US warships, including guided missile destroyers in the Mediterranean, and US land bases in the region prepared to take out Iranian missiles and drones.

As a result most of the Iranian attack never even made it into Israeli airspace. Those that did were destroyed by Israel's anti-missile defense systems, which, thanks to allied help, was never overwhelmed as the Iranians had hoped.

Without the help of its allies, old and new, the Iranian attack would have had at least limited success.

The remarkable cooperation between Israel and its allies was not put together at the last minute.

The US has been pushing Arab capitals for several years to recognize the need for region-wide air defense co-operation to be able to deal with Iranian hostilities. The strategy was given real momentum by the signing of the Abraham Accords under President Trump, which signaled a new era of cooperation between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Even countries that didn't sign up, like Saudi Arabia, accepted that a new era of cooperation with Israel against a common enemy, Iran, had begun.

But not President Biden. He entered the Oval Office in January 2021 with wild talk of isolating Saudi Arabia and treating it as a 'pariah' while indicating he was up for détente with Iran.

Funds were released for the mullahs in Tehran which should never have been handed over. The Abraham Accords were left to atrophy, largely and pathetically because they were a Trump legacy. The foreign-policy establishment types around Biden never liked them anyway.

The US paid dearly for this Trump Derangement Syndrome. Instead of wooing the Saudis to join the Accords, they were given the cold shoulder, which resulted in Riyadh trying to appease Tehran.

But even as the White House struck all the wrong notes, behind the scenes, important, game-changing work was being done.

Two years ago, America moved its military command center for Israel from Europe to Central Command (CENTCOM) in Qatar. This was hugely significant because it meant America could deal with Israel and its Arab allies from the same command center, making intelligence sharing and the coordination of early warning systems more intertwined.

Biden and his foreign policy team were slow learners. But eventually they saw the virtue in encouraging closer cooperation between Israel and relatively friendly Arab nations.

The remarkable cooperation between Israel and its allies was not put together at the last minute. The US has been pushing Arab capitals for several years to recognize the need for region-wide air defense co-operation to be able to deal with Iranian hostilities. (Pictured: Signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, Trump with leaders of Israel, left, Bahrain and the UAE, right).

The strategy was given real momentum by the signing of the Abraham Accords under President Trump, which signaled a new era of cooperation between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Even countries that didn't sign up, like Saudi Arabia, accepted that a new era of cooperation with Israel against a common enemy, Iran, had begun.

Under US auspices, in the Spring of 2022 a meeting was secretly convened in Egypt to begin the coordination of an Israeli-Arab response to Iranian missile and drone attacks — a prophetic move which paid dividends last weekend.

It even began to dawn on Biden that it made sense to breathe new life into the Abraham Accords he had so stupidly neglected. The priority became, belatedly, to get the Saudis on board. The prospects of success so appalled the Iranians that they gave Hamas the green light to attack Israel on October 7.

It was undoubtedly a setback — the Saudis got cold feet and froze progress as the horrors of Gaza unfolded. But after last weekend moves to get the Saudis to sign the Accords are back on track.

It will now be a major US foreign policy goal, as it should be, whoever is in the White House after the election.

The Saudis are already intelligence sharing with Tel Aviv as if they were part of the Accords.

The real significance of last weekend is that it revealed there is now a putative alliance of Israel, America, the more robust European powers and a collection of key Sunni Arab states in the making, with the common aim of standing up to Iranian aggression designed to realize its goal of regional hegemony.

It has been a long time coming and there have been many wrong turns on the way.

President Bush's invasion of Iraq on a false pretext in 2003 degraded the one regional power with the military might to contain Iran on its own.

President Obama's dithering over Syria made way for Iran to prop up the tottering Assad regime and created new bases from which its proxies could threaten Israel and American bases in the region. It also allowed Moscow to return as a major player in the region.

Biden, as we've seen, made his mistakes too.

There is now the chance to rectify these mistakes and create an alliance which will thwart Iran's ambition to be the regional superpower.

Already the events of last weekend have ended stupid talk on both sides of the Atlantic of an arms embargo of Israel. There is also a better chance of getting a new aid package for Israel (plus Ukraine and Taiwan) through Congress.

Those in Congress who opposed funding for Israel's air defense systems, like Iron Dome and Arrow 3, should hang their heads in shame. If there had been no anti-missile defense, the Iranian missiles would have wreaked havoc in Israel and the region would now be going up in flames.

But not President Biden. He entered the Oval Office in January 2021 with wild talk of isolating Saudi Arabia and treating it as a 'pariah' while indicating he was up for détente with Iran.

President Biden will need to see down the vocal Palestinian lobby in his party and its wider supporters in the US, who do themselves no favors by blocking access to the Golden Gate Bridge or Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

It is performative nonsense that serves only to alienate ordinary folk trying to go about their business.

Plus consider this: at a time when an increasing part of the Sunni Arab world seeks to make common cause with Israel, by what possible yardstick would it make sense for America to turn its back on Israel now?

The very thought is an absurdity.

As the 21st century gathers pace, America will want to pivot more of its military and diplomatic resources to the Pacific to deal with the rising power of China. But it cannot contemplate even a partial disengagement from the Middle East without leaving a robust security structure of allies in place.

That process is now underway. In a fractious America, with bipartisan accord in short supply, this is surely one significant policy upon which sensible Republicans and Democrats can agree.