The disagreements between the Biden administration and Israel are deepening. In response to a question about inviting the Prime Minister to the White House, President Biden responded in the negative, saying (July 9) “The Israeli President is going to be coming. We have other [bilateral] contacts.” The President continued that “This is one of the most extreme” governments that ever existed in Israel, with government ministers who say ”we can settle anywhere we want, they [the Palestinians] have no right to be here.” He also noted that Israel, and these ministers in particular, “are part of the problem.” The President emphasized that there is a regular dialogue with Israel in an attempt to “tamp down what is going on and hopefully…Bibi will continue to move toward moderation and change in the court.”
The President's words are a continuation of the hard line he took in response to a similar question in March regarding a potential visit by the Prime Minister, when he responded simply that Netanyahu would not be invited “in the near term.”
Another clear expression of the depth of the differences can be seen in the President's recent interview when he emphasized, “I’m one of those who believe that Israel's ultimate security rests on the two-state solution". In an attempt to balance his remarks somewhat, the President estimated that the Prime Minister is “trying to work through how we can work through his existing [coalition] problems” and placed some of the responsibility for the situation on the Palestinian Authority, which has “lost its credibility” and “created a vacuum for extremism among the Palestinians.”
With regard to Israeli-Saudi normalization, the President chose to emphasize the gaps between the parties, and by implication, distance himself from the more positive assessments voiced in Israel. “We’re a long way from there. [We’ve] got a lot to talk about,” he stated. As for the Saudi demands, the President said, “Whether or not we would provide a means by which they could have civilian nuclear power and/or be a guarantor of their security, I think that’s a little way off.”
The “special relations” with the US is one of the main pillars of Israeli national security. Israel's dependence on the US is extensive and even existential. For this reason, it is crucial to act to narrow the gaps as soon as possible and return to the path of serious, in-depth dialogue.
The disagreements between the Biden administration and Israel are deepening. In response to a question about inviting the Prime Minister to the White House, President Biden responded in the negative, saying (July 9) “The Israeli President is going to be coming. We have other [bilateral] contacts.” The President continued that “This is one of the most extreme” governments that ever existed in Israel, with government ministers who say ”we can settle anywhere we want, they [the Palestinians] have no right to be here.” He also noted that Israel, and these ministers in particular, “are part of the problem.” The President emphasized that there is a regular dialogue with Israel in an attempt to “tamp down what is going on and hopefully…Bibi will continue to move toward moderation and change in the court.”
The President's words are a continuation of the hard line he took in response to a similar question in March regarding a potential visit by the Prime Minister, when he responded simply that Netanyahu would not be invited “in the near term.”
Another clear expression of the depth of the differences can be seen in the President's recent interview when he emphasized, “I’m one of those who believe that Israel's ultimate security rests on the two-state solution". In an attempt to balance his remarks somewhat, the President estimated that the Prime Minister is “trying to work through how we can work through his existing [coalition] problems” and placed some of the responsibility for the situation on the Palestinian Authority, which has “lost its credibility” and “created a vacuum for extremism among the Palestinians.”
With regard to Israeli-Saudi normalization, the President chose to emphasize the gaps between the parties, and by implication, distance himself from the more positive assessments voiced in Israel. “We’re a long way from there. [We’ve] got a lot to talk about,” he stated. As for the Saudi demands, the President said, “Whether or not we would provide a means by which they could have civilian nuclear power and/or be a guarantor of their security, I think that’s a little way off.”
The “special relations” with the US is one of the main pillars of Israeli national security. Israel's dependence on the US is extensive and even existential. For this reason, it is crucial to act to narrow the gaps as soon as possible and return to the path of serious, in-depth dialogue.