Netanyahu is closer to Putin than to Biden

LAmerica’s dominant position in the Middle East has, for decades, rested on two pillars: on the one hand, its unfailing alliance with Israel, despite temporary crises; On the other hand, the Saudi guarantee in the hydrocarbon market, initially the supply of cheap oil, today by controlling the price of a barrel of crude. Joe Biden traveled to Israel and Saudi Arabia last July to reverse the Afghan debacle in the summer of 2021, seeking to reaffirm the solidity of two pillars of his country’s Middle East policy. Thus the rehabilitation given to Prince Mohammed bin Salman was not enough to restore the US-Saudi partnership in oil affairs: the de facto leader of the Wahhabi kingdom not only refused to open the floodgates of his hydrocarbon production, but also made a deal with Vladimir Putin. In order to raise the price of oil as much as possible. As if this snap wasn’t enough, Joe Biden now has to deal with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, whose return as head of government can only tantalize the Kremlin.

A rocky relationship

Biden, who has visited Israel since 1973, describes himself as a ” Zionist sure, confirm, ” If Israel does not exist, it must be invented », His relations with Netanyahu were never smooth. In January 2009, he became Barack Obama’s Vice President and worked with him to obtain from Prime Minister Netanyahu a ten-month moratorium on Israeli colonization in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It was in this context that he visited Israel in March 2010, coming up against Netanyahu’s announcement to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories. An Israeli columnist Then he reprimands A clue on Biden’s face », Even the Israeli Defense Minister suggests ” Sorry for this grave mistake “. But Netanyahu is steadfast in his position. After the victory of the Republican hardline in the November 2010 midterm elections, he will go so far as to continue playing Congress against the White House.

Trust will never be restored between Biden and Netanyahu, who are leading a real campaign, even in the United States, against Obama-initiated negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In March 2015, the Israeli prime minister intervened with strong words before a meeting of both houses of Congress that could not, four months later, prevent the U.S. from rallying to a multilateral deal on Iran’s nuclear program. This shows how happy Netanyahu was when Donald Trump entered the White House in January 2017. This has led to a proliferation of gestures in favor of the Israeli prime minister: the condemnation of the Iran nuclear deal, in May 2018, followed shortly thereafter by the move of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; In March 2019, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian territory of the Golan; Or even the Abraham Accords of normalization between Israel and the four Arab states from September to December 2020 without mentioning the Palestinian issue. Netanyahu’s commitment to Trump’s re-election, Biden will enter the White House in January 2021. The current US president mistakenly believes he has finally ousted Netanyahu, who will step down as head of the Israeli government in June 2021, but it seems certain he will be back at it. After the recent elections.

You should read 40.78% of this article. The following is for subscribers only.