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Pressure on Joe Biden in the US debate over the Middle East conflict is growing
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
Joe Biden knows only too well how confused, chaotic and difficult to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is.
He made his own experiences there.
When Biden was Barack Obama's vice president, he traveled the region eleven years ago to mediate between the two sides. Almost at the same time, Israel announced the construction of new settlements on land in East Jerusalem that was attributed to the Palestinians. It was a visible affront to Biden, who actually wanted to stand up for a stop of the Israeli settlement building. Of course, nothing came of his peace efforts.
Now Biden is president and actually he had hoped to be able to deal primarily with problems other than the tiresome Middle East conflict during his term of office.
China, for example, or the fight against climate change.
But the newly flaring up violence between Israelis and Palestinians and the danger of a third intifada force Biden to deal again with the seemingly insoluble permanent problem.
Call for de-escalation - and then what?
It took a few days for the President to intervene personally for the first time.
After Biden's phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House announced that the US President had condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups on Israel.
In addition, Biden underscored the US’s unwavering support for Israel’s security and Israel’s right to self-defense.
A spokesman for the US State Department added that they were relying on "de-escalation".
It is the classic American line: the United States is Israel's protecting power.
Confessions to the security of the country are practically part of the political basics in Washington, as well as appeals to both sides to calm the situation and to avoid civilian casualties in any case.
However, it is questionable whether these usual formulas will be sufficient if the conflict continues. The recent tragedy that is unfolding there cannot leave anyone indifferent. If the violence does not end soon, the Biden government would have to increasingly fulfill the other traditional US role in the Middle East: In the past, the US has always been there when it comes to calming heated emotions.
The problem: At the moment the US doesn't even have an ambassador to Israel.
Biden is taking his time with the nomination.
The usual special envoy for peace negotiations does not currently exist either.
After all, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has now sent the responsible top diplomat from the State Department, Hady Amr, to the region.
He should hold talks with the different sides.
The short term goal would be to achieve a ceasefire.
Biden will have no illusions.
A lasting peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis is a long way off.
There is little for him to gain politically.
But he cannot be interested in additional instability in the region either.
The situation is complicated enough as it is.
Problem case Iran
The Iran talks in particular are at risk.
Washington emissaries are trying hard to find a new deal on Iran's nuclear armament plans.
The Americans could probably put this plan on hold if the violence between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel escalates further.
Iran would then probably refuse a new deal with the Americans on principle.
At the same time, Biden could hardly justify an agreement with Tehran in such a situation.
Why should he reward the mullahs with an agreement when Iran is simultaneously supporting groups that are so obviously contributing to the escalation of violence in the Middle East?
Some of his supporters in Washington also attribute the fact that Biden is now in this confused situation to the previous government of Donald Trump.
As is well known, Trump had not only canceled the Iran deal, but also created plenty of additional confusion with a view to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Joe Biden's predecessor Donald Trump unconditionally supported Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's course
Photo: Matty Stern / dpa
Trump's unconditional support for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by his government can be seen as a driver behind the conflict that has now broken out.
Many Palestinians felt more and more marginalized.
It is true that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was able to negotiate a peace treaty between Israel, Morocco and some Gulf emirates.
But the situation of the Palestinians in the West Bank or in Gaza has hardly improved as a result.
The terror princes of Hamas also stayed at the helm.
The main aim of the new alliances between Israel and the Emirates was to isolate their common enemy, Iran.
Biden remains at a distance from Netanyahu
After taking office, Biden stuck to the previous government's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The move is quite popular in the USA.
At the same time, Biden kept his distance from Netanyahu from day one.
It was a good three weeks before Biden picked up the phone and called Netanyahu for the first time.
An Israeli head of government has seldom had to wait that long for a call from a new US president.
Evidently, Biden is still hoping that Netanyahu could soon be replaced by a moderate prime minister like Jair Lapid in the wake of the months-long power struggle within Israel.
That would be more on Biden's wavelength; with it, a restart of Middle East peace efforts might be easier for the US government.
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Israeli air strike on Gaza Thursday
Photo: Hatem Moussa / AP
But as long as there is no new government in Israel, the US president will not be able to avoid seeking a solution to the escalating conflict with Netanyahu.
Especially since Netanyahu could now become politically stronger again as a result of the crisis.
He can currently distinguish himself among the electorate as a determined fighter for Israel's security.
Outrage at Fox News and Trump
The whole thing is made even more difficult for Biden by the fact that the Middle East conflict is also playing a bigger role in the domestic political debate in the US from day to day.
The US debate runs along the usual black and white lines.
There are plenty of self-appointed approvers pressuring Biden.
While Fox News and ex-President Donald Trump accuse Biden of abandoning Israel in its struggle with Hamas' terrorists, left-wing Democratic MPs like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complain that Biden is not doing enough for Palestinian rights.
One who understands how Joe Biden must be feeling right now is Barack Obama's former Middle East mediator, Martin Indyk.
He is certain that Biden will still have a lot of work to do as president with the Israel-Palestine conflict: "The problem with the Middle East is that you can turn your back on it," says Indyk.
"But he won't turn his back on you."
