Nearly a month into the new administration, the longest delay in forty years, the president of the United States and the prime minister of Israel have finally spoken to each other. “Biden and Netanyahu talk Iran, U.S.-Israel alliance,” by Ben Leonard, Politico, February 17, 2021:
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday for the first time since taking office, speaking about Iran and strengthening the U.S.-Israeli relationship, according to both the Israeli and White House readouts of the call.
The Israeli readout made no specific mention of a Palestinian state or a potential two-state solution. Netanyahu has long downplayed the chance of a Palestinian state coming to fruition. The White House readout, however, said Biden “underscored the importance of working to advance peace throughout the region, including between Israelis and Palestinians.” But the president did not specifically mention a two-state solution.
They apparently didn’t discuss Biden’s long delay in contacting Netanyahu, but shortly before the call, the US ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, Dan Shapiro, explained why he was not at all concerned by the fact that the leaders of the US and Israel had not spoken almost a month into Joe Biden’s term. The story of how he attempted to justify Biden’s “failure to communicate” is here: “Former US envoy to Israel says timing of Biden phone call ‘utterly irrelevant,’” by Lazar Berman, Times of Israel, February 12, 2021:
“How he has spent his time, and the leaders he has spoken to, is a very clear reflection of the priorities and the emergencies that he inherits as president,” Dan Shapiro told the Times of Israel Thursday. “I don’t think there’s any other explanation.”
“He’s taking office facing more crises and emergencies both at home and abroad than any president since Franklin Roosevelt,” said Shapiro. “He’s been very disciplined about focusing on those priorities. At home, it’s addressing the crisis of the pandemic. It’s providing economic relief. It’s building toward more racial justice. And it’s building an administration committed to confronting climate change.”
“Overseas it’s restoring core US alliances, which are with NATO and with Asian countries,” Shapiro continued. “It’s restoring US leadership on multilateral organizations and transnational challenges that has been lacking. It’s addressing the challenge of a rising China, a global strategic rival to the United States, and dealing with an aggressive Russia.”
Indeed, Biden’s phone calls to foreign leaders during his first week in office showed a focus on immigration and trade (Mexico, Canada), shoring up the NATO alliance against Russia (UK, France, Germany, NATO secretary-general, Russia), and sending signals to China and North Korea, with calls to South Korea and Australia.
Since then, and before he called Netanyahu, Biden also called the leaders of China, India, and Japan. Was India really a higher priority than collaborating with Israel on foiling Iran’s nuclear project and its manifold aggressions – in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon – throughout the region? If Iran is a pressing foreign policy issue, and it is, than shouldn’t America’s most loyal ally, which also happens to be the most effective operative in slowing down Iran’s nuclear project that, if completed, would threaten the entire Middle East, have been among the very first countries Biden should have called?
In Tehran, they interpret the long delay in Biden’s calling Netanyahu as a welcome sign of daylight between Washington and Jerusalem, and this emboldens Iran’s leaders to stick with their maximalist demands for a complete lifting of American sanctions before Iran will return to its commitments under the JCPOA. That long delay in calling Israel also must have heartened Mahmoud Abbas, who was already delighted by Biden’s announced intention to turn the spigot of American aid back on.
“The Middle East is not on that first tier, but it’s not unimportant,” Shapiro stressed. “And Israel is not unimportant. The call will happen. I’m certain the call will happen fairly soon.”…
“Israel is not unimportant.” That’s one way — most litotically — to put it. Israel, at this point, is perhaps our closest and most effective ally in the world. It is Israel that practically alone has through repeated acts of derring-do set back the Iranian nuclear project by anywhere from two to five years. Let’s not forget that Iran’s project is not just to wipe out Israel, but to extend its regional power and subjugate Sunni Arabs within a “Shi’a crescent” extending from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. What effect might that have on world oil production and prices?
The long delay in this call, and the fact that it took place only after Biden’s failure to call became an international news story, is interpreted by one and all as a deliberate snub, a sign of Biden’s desire to make clear that the American government is distancing itself from Israel. Under Trump, there was no daylight between the two countries; now there is, as evidenced by this quite obviously intentional snub to Netanyahu. That is how Israelis themselves are interpreting the long delay in calling, and that is how Israel’s mortal enemy, Iran, also interprets Biden’s refusal so far to call Netanyahu, when he has spoken already to almost a dozen leaders.
Given that it takes no time at all to arrange a phone call between leaders, and that the call itself need be nothing more than an exchange of expressions of good will, it made no sense to pretend that Biden had simply been “too busy” to call Netanyahu.
“The very fact that there has not been a phone call could be read by some malign actors as a sign that the US no longer has Israel’s back, said Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.
“It’s unclear why President Biden would wish to signal to all of Israel’s enemies that the United States doesn’t stand with our most important ally in the Middle East.”…
Danielle Pletka was right. This delay in contacting Netanyahu of course will be received by the tea-leaf readers in Iran as a sign Washington is no longer in Netanyahu’s camp. Too many other leaders, including those of our major enemies, China and Russia, were called by Biden before he called Netanyahu. So how could Israelis not be anxious at the timing of this call? It was not innocuous, but was a deliberate distancing by Joe Biden from the Jewish State. It was not an oversight, nor a problem of a President too busy to make a five-minute phone call. It was and is a sign of a chill in the geopolitical air. Even though Biden finally did call, too much time had passed for the original insult to disappear.
No wonder the IDF Chief of Staff, Maj General Aviv Khochavi, gave a speech denouncing any return by the Americans to the Iran Deal, and spoke of how the IDF was considering various options for ensuring that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons, thanks to Israel, going it alone. Some may be reminded of that celebrated cartoon during World War II, when France had fallen, America had not yet joined the war, and Great Britain fought alone against the Nazis. On June 18, 1940 the Evening Standard published a cartoon by David Low. It showed a grim-faced British soldier standing on a rock in the middle of a stormy sea shaking his fist at a squadron of enemy bombers approaching across a pitch black sky. The caption read “Very well. Alone.” You can see it here.
That is what Kochavi was saying; we Israelis will, alone if we have to, make sure Iran never gets the bomb. it’s an attitude of determined self-reliance among Israelis that Biden’s delay in phoning Netanyahu encourages. Is it so hard for Biden to see the damage he has already inflicted on the alliance?
Walter Sieruk says
There are three terrible plagues inflected upon America , and Israel
The first is Islam with its stealth and violent jihad. The second is the coronavirus . The third is Joe Biden.
Patrick Henry says
I’d reverse the order of those
Westman says
While fully knowing that it was in the weaker position, England defined its “red line” and declared war on Germany when it was crossed. Todays leaders talk of red lines and do nothing when they are violated.
Israel has a difficult decision in its future.
Clearsighted says
The decision has already been made. It was made on November 4, 2020.
Andrew Blackadder says
England did NOT define its “red line”, however BRITAIN did, England is merely a PART of Britain.
Charlie in NY says
All Israel has ever asked is to be able to defend itself by itself. Unlike its Arab neighbors, it has never asked for any Western armies to fight on its behalf (the antisemites’ overheated, delusional, conspiratorialist universe to the contrary notwithstanding).
Iran’s ambitions are not unlike China’s, premised as they are in a belief in their ancient civilizations inherent worthiness to strut the world’s stage as important and respected players on the world stage (even if Iran’s vision necessarily predates Islam by about 1,000 years). Iran being the weaker of the two is the one more likely to resort to violence to get its way. China can rely on its increasing economic muscle to force compliance in its near neighbors or buy control of others through its Belt and Road Initiative. Iran’s nuclear ambitions coupled with their ballistic missile program suggests a hegemonic reach not only throughout the Middle East but one with clear implications for Europe herself who will inevitably be within range at some point. Unfortunately, Europe has for the most part chosen to leave itself militarily prostrate, hiding behind the might of the US armed forces and, though they will never admit it, Israel’s too.
Everyone recognizes that until the Palestinian society changes in major ways, there will be no progress on the peace front – so that will leave the option of resurrecting the kabuki that is the “peace process” or some attempts at a bottom-up strategy of economic advancement for the people not their corrupt rulers. Much of the usual anti-Israel rhetoric will be of the same throat clearing kind as the formulaic support of the Palestinian cause claims that used to greet Western diplomats in Muslim countries in the Middle East. There will be nothing behind it.
Clues of the real substance of US support for Israel will come from the progress in integrating Israel into CENTCOM and the types of military hardware the US sends Israel’s way. Israel will determine its fate for itself and by itself, as it has in the past. The Jews of Israel have taken the correct lesson from the Holocaust, and it is this: no one will lift a finger to save the Jews. This determination causes great distress to those who pretend that the “proper” lesson from the Holocaust is of the “turn the other cheek” variety, a lesson that conveniently cleanses the perpetrators (and their descendants) guilty consciences, clears the forever tarred reputations of their own countries while at the same time returns the Jews to their previous defenseless status). The founding of Israel and the forming of Jews who are not self-conscious of, or apologetic to others for, being Jews has changed everyone’s calculations and expectations about what Jews can be and do when left to their own devices. It’s just that far too many are just not used to that new reality and long for the “good old days”. Too bad for them, but Time only moves in one direction.
gravenimage says
Charlie, the Iranian desire to destroy Israel does indeed have everything to do with Islam.
I am saddened that Israel has to stand on her own for now, given the appalling Biden administration. She still has the support of many ordinary Americans, including myself.
tim gallagher says
It has obviously been a very calculated insult to Israel by this Biden administration to ignore Israel for this long period, so the Biden mob have made their attitude plain. Israel seems to be pretty much the only civilised country in the Middle East, so I think the Biden administration’s attitude is wrong headed and foolish, but it is what I’d expect from Biden’s crowd.
Walter Sieruk says
Any type of”talks” with that President pretender Biden will have worthless results at their very best.
Other talks with the character Biden might also have the outcome of disaster at the worst.
STJOHNOFGRAFTON says
Biden’s deliberate delay in talking to Israel’s Neetanyahu shows Biden’s inherent weakness of character. Biden knows that he lacks Netanyahu’s qualities of statesmanship and resolve which comes from leading the only democracy in the Middle East. Obama has again made a fool of himself through his proxy Biden.
gravenimage says
Insanely, I think Biden considers himself superior to Netanyahu, and thinks that this childish, mean-spirited, and self harming snub proves it. Just disgusting.
gravenimage says
Biden and Netanyahu Finally Talk, But Their Long ‘Failure to Communicate’ Means A Great Deal
……………..
Biden made it quite clear that this snub was deliberate–it was meant to humiliate.
That Israel is one of our greatest allies and our *only* ally in the unstable Middle East makes this all the more appalling.
James Lincoln says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should have left *strict instructions* with his office secretary – something like this:
“If Sleepy Joe calls, tell him that I’m busy watching a rerun of “The Andy Griffith Show” and I’ll try to call him back in a few weeks…”
Rod says
Biden seems reluctant to associate with such a dubious character. My regard for him seems appropriate.
One who is suspected of crimes involving fraud, breach of trust, and bribes,
while his former chief of staff, Ari Harow, has agreed to testify against him.
Israeli police haverecommended that Netanyahu be charged with corruption. According to a police statement, sufficient evidence exists to indict the prime minister on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
But isn’t he a good friend of exPresident Trump? What does that suggest? By their friends shall ye know them.
gravenimage says
Netanyahu had mostly kept his people safe from Jihad terror. *Of course* “Rod” considers that “dubious”.
Rod says
“Dubious” means what it means. Nothing to do with Islamophobia.
And “Criminality” means “criminality”. Not usually regarded with respect or admiration. Not an advantage for re-election. As Mr Trump discovered recently.
“Lying” is “lying”, of course, but you know all about that. Very useful if you’re addicted to Islamophobia.
gravenimage says
How am I lying in saying that Netanyahu has acted to keep his people safe from Jihad terror? Of course, “Rod” does not say. He assumes that he can just scream “liar” and “pinocchio” without ever having to back up his slurs. Still, Muslim apologists seldom feel they have to present substantiated arguments, so this does not surprise.