Rami Dabbas – Why do Israelis expect crises with the Biden administration?
The Iranian nuclear program and the Palestinian issue constitute the most prominent potential contentious issue between Israel and US President Joe Biden, who intends to follow the approach of former US President Barack Obama, who has been signing an agreement with Iran on the nuclear program, in addition to pressuring Israel to freeze settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
And it became clear that the Israeli government will face great difficulty in adapting to the Biden administration, because its foreign policy differs greatly from the Trump administration, which granted Israel many achievements that cannot be achieved again, and Biden’s desire to erase Trump’s legacy, and to amend the foreign policies of the United States. .
The Middle East is not an important Biden priority at the moment. Washington has strategic interests that it seeks to achieve primarily with its foreign policies
The current data indicate that Washington does not intend to waste time and work to repair and restore what Trump left behind. The team that Biden has crystallized around him sees returning to negotiations with Iran a major goal, while Biden intends to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, from which the former president, Donald Trump, withdrew, in May 2018, along with his intentions to return to the idea of a two-state solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and to pressure Israel to stop the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Big crises
The political consensus that took place between the United States and Israel during the era of former President Donald Trump will not return again, as relations with the new administration are expected to witness major crises, while Israel will clash with many of the officials appointed by Biden, who previously served in the region, Most of them are experts in Middle East issues and problems.
As the Israeli diplomacy is expected to face a failure in everything related to the Iranian nuclear file, which is a sensitive point of contention in the American administrations’ dealings with it, despite the withdrawal that Trump undertook and imposing sanctions on Tehran, this did not bring down the Iranian regime, but rather on The exact opposite; The American withdrawal allowed the Iranians to resume work on developing the nuclear program.
The Palestinian file is also considered a thorny file that is no less tense than the Iranian file, especially that Israel is heading towards new elections, and this file occupies a field of interest among many candidates for prime minister; As the competition between the heads of the parties takes place in slogans calling for preserving Israel’s right to build and expand, and calling for Jerusalem to be the eternal capital of Israel.
The pace of concern in Israel
With the escalation of concern in Israel, against the backdrop of Biden’s insistence on returning quickly to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, the Israeli Channel 12 reported that the head of the Israeli intelligence service, Yossi Cohen, will meet the US President, Joe Biden, during the coming weeks in Washington, and that To present the viewpoint and basket of Israel’s demands regarding any review of the nuclear agreement with Iran, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, will delegate Cohen to visit Washington; Being one of his closest associates, and according to the channel; Cohen is expected to provide Biden and senior US defense officials with new information about Iran’s secret nuclear program, and he is also expected to ask the Biden administration to impose tight restrictions on Tehran on its nuclear program.
In this context; The honeymoon that the Israelis spent with Trump, and the achievements he presented to them throughout his presidency, ended with the appointment of Joe Biden as President of the United States, in light of Biden’s keenness to move in the region, and that the Middle East is not an important priority for Biden at the present time; The Biden administration has strategic interests that it seeks primarily to achieve with its foreign policies, especially on the economic level, which is the most important tributary of the state. The Biden administration will work to strengthen its economic position by restoring the negative effects that Trump left to the United States, with China, the European Union and North Korea, during the last two years of his rule, by withdrawing commercial companies from China to America, and by rearranging the economic and political relations between those countries.
And also the regional role of Iran is what scares Israel, not the nuclear program. Israel knows that Iran will not strike Israel.
Likewise, the Israelis do not rely much on the Biden administration. Because the American officials concerned with the Iranian file are seeking, with Biden’s support, to write off every previous agreement between Netanyahu and Trump, and the new administration will move, despite Israel’s opposition, to activating the nuclear agreement with Iran, but according to the plan and conditions that former President Barack Obama put on Tehran, with The Biden administration imposed limited amendments to the agreement, in order to reduce the tension created by Iran in the region, after the isolation that Trump caused to it, and the subsequent formation of Iran allies, and their military support to destabilize the region.
The Biden administration is expected to exert some pressure on Israel with regard to returning to the negotiating table with the Palestinians, in addition to pressure on Israel to stop the repeated air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria, especially in the event that America and Iran reach positive outcomes regarding the agreement on the nuclear program. This will aggravate relations between the American and Israeli sides, in conjunction with the hinting by the Israeli military leadership to place the military option against Iran on the table once again, in case the Biden administration activates the nuclear agreement with Iran.
Netanyahu is waiting for Biden’s call
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waiting for the phone conversation from his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to understand whether he will return to work against the new administration, as he did during Obama’s term, or will work with the Biden administration in the event that the two parties reach an agreement on the issues at hand, in When the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, announced: That his country is committed to the security of Israel, and that President Joe Biden will work to consult with Israel on issues related to the Middle East and to open strategic dialogue channels between the two countries.
Within the framework of that; The Israeli concern about the Biden administration’s political orientations in the Middle East is exaggerated. Israel is not afraid of Biden’s arrival to the White House, and it is well aware that any change in the US administration does not affect the relations between the two countries, but all that Israel does with the arrival of Biden is to pressure him to push him towards adopting Trump’s policies, and more deeply.
Whereas Trump represented an anomaly for Israel, by granting it a large package of achievements that had never before been presented by any American president, while the most that Biden could do was to repeat what Barack Obama did during his rule of the United States, by Canceling some of the decisions imposed by Trump, which do not affect Israel in its entirety, including the reopening of the Palestinian consulate and the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, after closure for more than two years, in response to the Palestinian Authority’s submission of a case to the International Criminal Court demanding that it hold Israeli leaders accountable.
The Biden administration will continue to support Israel
Likewise, the Biden administration will continue its support for Israel by providing aid to it and maintaining its military superiority in the region, and may increase that aid further. As for the Palestinian issue, the Biden administration will work to do justice to Israel and keep its borders with its neighbors quiet, while keeping the US embassy in Jerusalem. Recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as support for Israel in its endeavors to conclude more peace agreements with Arab countries.
In conclusion, it is Iran’s regional role that scares Israel, not the nuclear program. Israel knows very well that Iran will not strike it with nuclear weapons, but what worries Israel more and makes it constantly inflate the Iranian threat, is its fear of Iran’s economic superiority in the future, thanks to its nuclear program, The economic issue is the most important issue that worries Israel, as it does not want any presence or superiority for anyone in the region, whether by Turkey, Iran, or other countries in the region.
Rami Dabbas is a rare, outspoken advocate Arab for Israel fighting against terrorism. Rami is a former Muslim who became a Christian Zionist. Based in Jordan, he joined anti-Islam activities at university after leaving Islam in 2012. Rami studied civil engineering and is now a human rights activist fighting against Sharia Law, radical Islamic terrorism & Arab nationalism.
Rami is a political writer involved in Christian and pro-Israel advocacy. He is affiliated with groups like Pegida Canada and Jihad Watch which is a part of the LA-based think tank ”David Horowitz Freedom Center.” He also serves as a peace campaigner promoting normalization between Israel and the Arabs. In addition to the Voice of Europe & JihadWatch.org Rami also writes for the NY-based journal and news-site The Algemeiner and the Times of Israel.
His passion is to promote peace between Arabs and Israel following in the footsteps of the late Jordanian King Hussein who made peace with the Jewish State in 1994.
As a pro-Israel advocate, Rami connects in his home country Jordan with many NGOs and think-tanks that promote peace with Israel and work with counter-Jihad organizations.
Rami gives Israel Today readers a unique Arab Christian perspective on events in and around the Middle East. Here is the link for more of Rami Dabbas
