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The Biden administration continues to appease Iran and its axis at Israel’s expense. Recently, the Biden administration:
1. Continues to pursue a ceasefire with Hamas on Iran’s terms…
The Biden administration continues to pressure Israel on achieving a ceasefire with Hamas. This is concerning as the Biden administration is parroting Iran’s talking pointsemphasizing a desire to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire in exchange for Iran (or its proxies) not attacking it. For example, President Biden confirmed that he expects Iran to hold off on attacking Israel if a ceasefire is reached. Additionally, US special envoy Amos Hochstein, when visiting Beirut, remarked that a ceasefire deal could help avoid war between Israel and Lebanon. These statements eerily model those of three Iranian officials, who stated that Iranian retaliation could be delayed if a ceasefire deal is achieved, with one of those officials even stating that Iran would attack Israel if a ceasefire was not reached or if Iran perceived that Israel was stalling in negotiations. The statements by both the Biden administration and Iran show that pressure is being put on Israel, not Hamas, to ceasefire, and emphasizes a quid pro quo for Israel to agree to a ceasefire in exchange for Iran to not attack Israel.
Meanwhile, while sources stress that they are working to get Hamas to the table, this appears to be kabuki theater as there is no indication that Hamas has any desire to meet for these negotiations. According to State Department spokesman Vedant Patel, Qatar is trying to “work to see Hamas represented” in upcoming ceasefire talks, while Secretary of State Antony is pressuring Turkey to pressure Hamas to come to come to the table for negotiations. But the US has nothing to show for these efforts. One Arab official stated that while Hamas won’t be at the actual talks, it will meet mediators afterwards, signaling that Hamas does not intend to negotiate in good faith.
3. Fails to clinch a Saudi-Israel normalization agreement
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has decided to not pursue a Saudi-Israel normalization agreement at least until the US elections in November. But this change of heart is likely because the Biden administration was insistent that a Palestinian state be part of the deal, forcing Netanyahu to distance himself from the deal, and subsequently causing Saudi Arabia to distance itself from Netanyahu. By trying to get Israel to swallow a poison pill of a Palestinian state, the Biden administration has all but given up its chance of clinching what would have been a tectonic deal that would have significantly strengthened the US and its allies’ efforts to contain Iran in the region. To its credit, the Biden administration has finally lifted its ban on offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. However, this win merely highlights how absurd it was for the Biden administration to attempt to distinguish between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons to an ally in the first place (and to do so for three years).
Lastly, the Biden administration has made a point convey that it“strongly opposes” an Israeli minister’s visit to the Temple Mount, that the administration feels that this minister“demonstrated blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” and that the administration calls the Temple Mount the “Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.” This is despite that both classical and modern Islamic sources have recognized the Temple Mount asthe location where Solomon’s Temple stood, and that the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount pre-dates the founding of any Muslim connection by at least 1,600 years.
The Biden administration continues to fumble on Middle East policy, putting an Israeli victory over Hamas in jeopardy, undermining prospects for a strong Saudi-Israeli strategic partnership, and picking a fight with the Jewish state over its holiest site. Given its current trajectory, it appears that the Biden administration is poised to further appease Iran, Hamas and other Islamists in the region at the expense of US and Israeli interests.
