Biden reinvents America's roadmap to Israel

Anti-Zionist Jews participate in a protest in favor of Palestine, this Friday in New York.KENA BETANCUR / AFP

Without any change in his commitment to the security of Israel, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, has contributed with an "intensive and silent" diplomacy to put out the first fire in the Middle East since he arrived at the White House, the message reads. official. Criticized by some of his co-religionists for not acting quickly, and for delaying a resolution at the UN, the behind-the-scenes performance of his diplomats was decisive, the speech insists, in pushing the Government of Israel and Hamas to the ceasefire agreed on Thursday. although the direct mediation corresponded to Egypt.

But the result gives ambivalent readings, it is no longer all black and white, or good or bad.

On the one hand, Biden does not deviate one millimeter from the Democratic Party's roadmap to Israel, which the majority of US Jews vote for;

on the other, it rehabilitates the Palestinian Authority - demonized by Donald Trump - as a partner in the reconstruction of Gaza, but also, as a priority, avoids the Palestinian-Israeli hornet's nest so as not to detract from efforts to counter China's threat to its supremacy .

The speed factor was underlined on Friday by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki: “The 2014 crisis lasted 51 days, with a much higher cost of living.

This time it has been fixed in 11 ”.

But solving the crisis does not mean ending the conflict, skeptics recall.

More information

• The battle for Jerusalem sets the Strip on fire

"As long as the countries of the region do not recognize the existence of the State of Israel, there will be no peace," Biden recalled on Friday, after reiterating in previous days to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington's unwavering support "for the legitimate right to security and defense of Israel ”.

Little seems to have changed in US policy in the Middle East, the result of decades of inertia and

status quo

pro-Israel, but the internal context has. The mobilization, through street protests, of a new generation of American Jews, secular or Orthodox, demanding a fair and just policy towards Israelis and Palestinians has placed Biden in front of the mirror, to the point of reiterating his defense of the solution of the two states as the only way to resolve the conflict. Representatives of Palestinian origin, such as Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib - the spearhead of critical Democrats - or the candidate to occupy the Manhattan prosecutor's office, Tahanie Aboushi, join the

establishment

, while pro-

Israel

pressure groups such as J Street, based in Washington , advocate a radical change in American diplomacy.

Consideration of Israel has been the cornerstone of that policy. Caring for Israel is "essential" to the identity of 45% of American Jews, and "important, but not essential" for another 37%, according to a 2020 Pew Research survey. Without reaching Trump's list, Biden assumes that some decisions of the Republican are difficult to reverse, such as the declaration of Jerusalem as capital and the transfer of its Embassy; or the settlement policy enshrined by Netanyahu. Because complicity comes from afar, even if it was Trump who showed his face. In 1995, Congress passed a law that recognized the capital of Jerusalem. Biden, then a senator, voted in favor. During the electoral campaign, the Democrat described the transfer of the legation as "myopic", but said he would not back down.There will also be no changes on the Golan, "key to Israeli security," according to Antony Blinken, head of US diplomacy, who will travel to Israel in the next few days. Trump had declared Israeli sovereignty over the occupied enclave, bypassing all international law. The policy of settlements and even evictions of the Palestinian population - one of the triggers of this crisis - continues to be a burden for Washington, but it does not dare to contravene fait accompli.The policy of settlements and even evictions of the Palestinian population - one of the triggers of this crisis - continues to be a burden for Washington, but it does not dare to contravene fait accompli.The policy of settlements and even evictions of the Palestinian population - one of the triggers of this crisis - continues to be a burden for Washington, but it does not dare to contravene fait accompli.

The J Street group, which advocates for a negotiated solution to the conflict, has launched an

online

signature collection

to pressure Biden. “There is an intolerable

status quo

that we must end. The lives of Israelis and Palestinians matter, and it is time for US foreign policy to reflect that, ”Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, said in an email. "We call for a

fundamental

reset

of the bilateral relationship, a renewed commitment to the rights of Israelis and Palestinians, and an end with the blank check to the far-right government of Netanyahu."

"Too often, the US has let the conflict get worse, and this must change," adds Ben-Ami, listing the

lobby's

demands

on Washington: among others, the appointment of a senior special envoy in the region and "reversing Trump's destructive footsteps ”, making clear that“ settlement activity is a flagrant violation of international law ”.

J Street, who defends the two-state solution, also recommends reopening the Palestinian mission in Washington - unilaterally closed by Trump in 2018 - and the US consulate in East Jerusalem;

also "to ensure by all means that [military] aid to Israel is destined only for legitimate defensive purposes", avoiding its use in demolitions, evictions and "a

de facto

annexation

".

Biden has already moved some token, such as the resumption of aid through UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees ($ 150 million), or through direct aid ($ 85 million). Reopening the Palestinian legation in Washington is more complicated, due to a law signed by Trump in 2019 that exposes the PLO - the party of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority - to millionaire lawsuits for shootings or bombings that have affected interests American people.

Shortly before the ceasefire between the Israeli government and Hamas was announced, Democratic initiatives in Congress to prevent a $ 735 million arms sale to Israel added pressure on Biden. Led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - conspicuous representatives of the most progressive Democratic faction - the resolutions had no signs of prospering, but the movement reflects the growing discontent with the official line and points to one of the keys to the network of interests At stake: the 3.8 billion dollars that the US grants Israel in military aid annually.

The Jewish vote is so decisive in the United States that its influence is not even spared by the Democratic primary campaign for mayor of NY, whose candidates avidly court voters in Jewish enclaves such as some of Brooklyn or the Riverdale neighborhood, well promising more

yeshivas

(talmudic schools), as Andrew Yang has done, while distancing himself from the anti-Israel campaign BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), the position of Kathryn Garcia, to name just two applicants.

But, as Yusef Munayer, of the Arab Center Washington DD, recalls in

The New York Times

, “US policy, regardless of the color of the Administration, has contributed to spur a shift to the right in Israeli politics, by guarantee that no consequence is derived from their actions ”. The leading role of the most ultra parties in the forging of a hypothetical government in Israel completes the complicated equation.