TEL AVIV: Israel’s Foreign Minister has met with at least one senior official in Abu Dhabi and agreed to provide intelligence and other assistance to the new US-led coalition designed to provide security against Iran in the Persian Gulf.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee about the agreement and told lawmakers that Israel participates in intelligence and other areas where it can offer capabilities and advantages.

Making such a meeting and agreement public — especially with a declaration about military cooperation with Gulf Coordination Council countries– is surprising from a senior member of the Israel cabinet.

Emily Landau, a senior researcher in the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) told Breaking Defense that the foreign minister’s declaration was a mistake. “It puts Israel in the middle of the confrontation in the Gulf,” she said. Israel has made the same mistake in the past, when it made the Iranian nuclear issue  an Israeli problem instead of an international one.