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U. S. President Joe Biden recently proclaimed that “there is no going back to the quo [in the Middle East] as it existed on October 6. “But the fact is, Biden refuses to abandon the quo, especially when it comes to Washington politics. called special appointments with Israel.
U. S. President Joe Biden recently proclaimed that “there is no going back to the quo [in the Middle East] as it existed on October 6. “But the fact is, Biden refuses to abandon the quo, especially when it comes to Washington politics. called special appointments with Israel.
U. S. steadfastness toward Israel has been a consistent feature of U. S. policy in the Middle East since the state’s status quo in 1948. President John F. Kennedy coined the word “special relationship” in 1962, explaining that Washington’s ties to the state were “truly comparable” only to what it has with Britain on a wide variety of global issues. In 2013, Biden, then vice president, asserted that “this is not just a long-standing ethical commitment; it’s a strategic commitment. “
According to Biden, “if Israel didn’t exist, we’d have to invent one. “In 2020, President Donald Trump cleared some of the fog, admitting that “we don’t wish to be in the Middle East, other than wishing for Israel. “
At the core of the U. S. -Israel relationship lies in the unprecedented amount of aid Washington is giving to its ally. Israel is the largest recipient of aid from the U. S. military, receiving more than $300 billion (adjusted for inflation) from the U. S. since World War II.
Washington continues to supply Israel with about $3. 8 billion a year, in addition to other arms sales and security benefits. (Some of the other major recipients of U. S. aid, such as Egypt and Jordan, get gigantic sums in exchange for maintaining normalized relations with Israel. )Israel. ) Israel and its supporters wield enormous influence in Washington, attracting attention from both sides of the political aisle through lobbying bureaucracy and direct and indirect influence.
It’s not yet clear what exactly the U. S. gets in return for this one-way dating.
Its proponents argue that firmness is imperative to advancing U. S. interests in the Middle East. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, once referred to Israel as “America’s eyes and ears” in the region. While sharing intelligence would possibly have some strategic value, the more than five-month war in Gaza has highlighted the many negative effects of this relationship, adding how Washington’s absolute adherence to Israel has undermined its strategic position in the Middle East and at the same time damaged its global image. The war has obviously exposed the underlying disorder. The ups and downs of U. S. policy in the Middle East.
The time is ripe for a basic reassessment of U. S. -Israel relations.
Israel’s crusade of collective punishment in Gaza has reached historic proportions. According to Gaza health authorities, the official death toll in the enclave now stands at about 32,000 people, the vast majority of them women and young people. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently claimed that 25,000 women and girls have died as a result of the war in Gaza. While some, adding Biden himself, are concerned that the death toll in Gaza is inflated, others say the death toll is higher. Probably even higher because ongoing hostilities prevent investigators from identifying thousands of other people whose fate or whereabouts are unknown.
Across the Gaza Strip, civilian infrastructure has been systematically decimated, and famine and disease are spreading rapidly. Gaza’s internal scenario is so bad that the U. S. government – along with other countries such as France, Jordan and Egypt – is now sending aid by air to the Gaza Strip. The U. S. is deploying 1,000 troops to build a jetty off the Gaza Strip. An enclave to break the siege that his so-called best friend – American weapons – refuses to lift.
Despite this, the Biden leadership has continued to supply Israel with complex weapons (adding smart and “stupid” bombs, as well as ammunition for tanks and artillery) by approving more than a hundred foreign military sales to Israel since October 7, 2023, and invoking the state of emergency. The U. S. recently issued its third veto in the U. N. Security Council since the standoff began, the only country to block a solution calling for an early humanitarian ceasefire. This is in addition to the additional $14 billion in aid from the military. Israel recently passed through the Senate.
It is hard to believe that this war can simply escalate, but all signs point in that direction, as Israel insists it will continue to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah despite objections from the United States, home to more than 1. 5 million Palestinians. part of the Palestinian population. The people of Gaza – they have fled.
Biden’s leadership said it opposes an invasion of Rafah “without a credible and enforceable plan that ensures protection and aid to civilians. “In an interview with MSNBC, Biden spoke of a “red line” in response to a question about a possible army operation in Gaza, saying, “[we] can’t leave 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” but then without delay, said that “Israel’s defense remains crucial, so there’s no red line. “This inconsistency not only nullifies Biden’s influence, but also ties Washington to any policies eventually adopted by the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Unsurprisingly, Netanyahu remains adamant that he will not give in to Biden’s airy red line by canceling his plan to invade Rafah by land. Netanyahu recently said he had made it “very clear” to Biden that he was “determined to complete the elimination of those battalions in Rafah, and there’s no way to do that by going to the ground. “
Israel has not demonstrated any long-term political strategy in Gaza beyond the systematic destruction of the enclave and the killing of its inhabitants. Netanyahu, who has reached his lowest point and is facing growing protests demanding early elections, turns out to know that once this is over, his term will end.
However, Biden has been unable or unwilling to take advantage of special appointments with Israel or influence Netanyahu, who in the past boasted of his ability to manipulate the United States.
The White House has begun strategically leaking reports about Biden’s growing “frustration” with Netanyahu, with the administration increasingly coming out in favor of a transitory pause in fighting. On March 14, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer publicly condemned Netanyahu’s unprecedented move, arguing that he had “gone astray” by calling new elections in Israel.
But the empty rhetoric of replacing policies will get nowhere.
Symbolic acts, such as the recent U. S. executive order sanctioning two Israeli settler settlements in the West Bank or Biden’s resolution to reinstate the position that the expansion of the Israeli deal is “incompatible with foreign law,” will not prevent the carnage in Gaza, Washington said. , or contribute to long-term stability.
Probably as a direct reaction to those actions, Israel has just legalized the structure of 3,400 new homes in West Bank settlements in the midst of historic violence against Palestinians; The U. S. did little to punish or prevent this decision.
The post-war plan recently unveiled by Netanyahu comprises little more than a plan for expanded military training in Gaza and the West Bank, which would ensure long-term instability. Since October 7, Netanyahu has boasted that he is “proud” to save by proclaiming the emergence of a Palestinian state, promising that only he can continue to save it.
Unlike Netanyahu’s plan, the plan for the day after Biden’s administration includes a vision of a “pathway” to a Palestinian state. It should be noted, however, that it does not include any concrete plan, let alone intention, for implementation in the United States or Israel component.
The war in Gaza shows that trying to circumvent the future of the Palestinian people is a foolish strategy. But for Netanyahu (and for Biden, by extension) it has perversely reinforced a commitment to the prestige quo.
Washington’s unwavering attitude toward Israel amid the Gaza war has also had disastrous regional ramifications. From the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea, a series of flashpoints threaten to drag the region – and the United States – into full-scale war. , the continuation of Washington’s brutal pro-Israel crusade in Gaza has tarnished Washington’s symbol as a leader of liberal values, mocking claims of a US-led “liberal foreign order. “
A regional war would be disastrous for the Middle East and for U. S. interests. Nor would it be a question of Israel’s survival. No state, Iran, is about to push Israel overboard. Israel’s military superiority, its nuclear arsenal and its strategic alignment with the United States of America and
Washington’s stance allows Israel to act with impunity and at the same time steer U. S. foreign policy in the Middle East toward steps that go far beyond Washington’s interests. Interests in the region come with protecting the security and prosperity of other Americans and preventing the rise of regional hegemony while upholding the values the country claims to defend. Israel’s knee-jerk reaction does not advance any of those steps.
The pathologies of the special relationship with Israel have hampered Washington’s strategic maneuverability in the Middle East and prevented U. S. leaders from thinking clearly about the region. In late 2023, for example, Biden defamed his own country by noting that “if there were no Israel, there wouldn’t be a single Jew in the world who was safe. “
This kind of thinking makes governance impossible.
Unequal relations between the U. S. and Israel, for example, have hampered Washington’s ability to engage in diplomatic discussions with Iran, while also pressuring the U. S. to use military force in that country.
Over the past five months, Israel has continuously attempted to force the United States into a direct confrontation with Iran, which is anathema to American interests and regional stability. High-level military trainings between Israel and the United States, the recent Israeli attack on primary fuel pipelines in Iran, and the continued escalation between Iranian- and U. S. -backed teams in the Middle East threaten to cause a regional catastrophe.
Washington’s engagement with Israel – as with any other state – must be motivated by the pursuit of concrete American interests. Even U. S. relations with treaty allies like France or South Korea are marked by debate, war of words, and general pressures of diplomacy. , the special relationship with Israel has propelled some of the worst actors in Israeli politics, fostered ruinous policies, and at times undermined the long-term interests of both countries.
Washington’s subsidies to Israeli policies have shielded Israel from the prices of those policies. What incentive does Israel have to change course when the world’s toughest state refuses to condition its deep political, economic and military support?Despite the price tags of his policies in the West Bank, for example, his pro-settler calendar would be harder to maintain.
A special relationship with Israel brings virtually nothing to the United States, while actively undermining U. S. strategic interests and violating the values Washington claims to uphold.
It is time to “normalize” relations between the United States and Israel. This does not mean making Israel an enemy of the United States and, at the same time, manipulating Israel in the same way that Washington deserves to treat any other foreign nation: with full distance.
Decisions about military aid, arms sales, or diplomatic protection would no longer be based on trail addiction or muscle memory, but on officials’ belief in U. S. interests at stake. Instead of allowing, protecting, and subsidizing Israeli policy, the United States deserves to reorient its relations with Israel on the basis of concrete U. S. interests.
This would mean that Washington would stop turning a blind eye to Israeli affronts to American interests, offering massive amounts of aid, and push for a swift end to this disastrous war and a permanent political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Biden’s leadership faces a choice: lead the Netanyahu government into the abyss or force it to change course.
Jon Hoffman is a foreign analyst at the Cato Institute and an adjunct professor at George Mason University. Twitter: @Hoffman8Jon
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