Some would say that, in the international arena we are doing well. Indeed signing the Abraham Agreements was an uplifting moment for all of us. However, we have not come any closer to the solution of the main conflict with our Palestinian neighbors; some will even suggest that it is time we realize that this is an enduring problem, never to be resolved. I beg to differ and maintain that our relations with the Palestinians are always an essential issue. The celebrated Abraham Agreements were a welcome development but they were made with countries that we never fought, while the painful dispute between Israel and the Palestinians lingers on. However, whether in times of conflict or in times of conflict resolution, Israel must seek the support or at least the understanding of the international community.

This is why we should act promptly to fix the damaged relations between Israel and so many in the United States.  Under Prime Minister Netanyahu Israel abandoned its long time bi-partisan policy and sided whole-heartedly with the Republican president. I recall how, during the Obama presidency, a republican activist (who will remain unnamed), had told me that as an Israeli diplomat I must work with both parties; however, his mission was to “make sure that this president should be shoved into the dustbin of history, and if it takes your hallowed bipartisanship, so be it!”

We must always avoid these acrimonious situations. We should strive for bi-partisanship and thanks to President Biden, we can resume the traditional bi-partisanship. In fact, by initiating a friendly telephone call to PM Bennet, President Biden already made the first step towards restoring the special relations with Israel. PM Bennett and FM Lapid will no doubt embrace this impressive and heart-warming presidential gesture and work closely with the administration, in contrast with Netanyahu’s livid defiance.

Israel’s relations with the US Congress are just as important and should be cultivated by our political leadership. There is an urgent need to reestablish the intimacy with the democrats in order to restore the bi-partisanship. However, given that there are five hundred and thirty five lawmakers on Capitol Hill and that each one of them has a voting finger, this task is overwhelmingly huge and must be shouldered by the talented diplomats we have. After all, how many lawmakers can the PM meet? Thus, activating its eight consulates general throughout the United States, Israel should be able to approach as many lawmakers as possible. The consulates should therefore be strengthened. In fact, it would be a good idea to restore the consulate general in Philadelphia, which the MFA had to close down a few years ago in a “penny wise and pound foolish” move.

Sometimes it is easier to obtain a meeting with a lawmaker in his or her hometown rather than in Washington. Hence, the joint activities of the embassy in Washington and the consulates should be coordinated by the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, assigning duties to the various missions abroad.

The Jewish communities, including the reform and conservative streams, are significant in that respect.  Firstly, our brotherly connection with the second largest (or maybe the largest) half of the Jewish people is vital for Jewish continuity. Secondly, a vast Jewish majority favors the democrats and for them. They can help bridging the gap and facilitating an easier approach to the heart of the American decision-making process. Those who prefer evangelical inroads and treat the Jewish communities with an easy-going disdain may cause a significant damage. The evangelicals may by friendly all the way to Armageddon, but they are not family.   Our Jewish brethren may scold us for deserting our liberal foundation, but their rage is of the loving sort and they will be with us, critical as they may be, because we are family. Once again, we need as many branches in the United States to uphold that partnership (and, of course, maintain and promote our relations with non-Jews as well).

In short, Prime Minister Bennett and Foreign Minister Lapid have their jobs cut for them. It is their turn now. Beyond the many challenges enumerated above, they must restore the bi-partisanship and rebuild our alliance with the United States and its Jewish community. To achieve this goal, Israel must rehabilitate and expand its foreign service.

**The article was published on The Times of Israel, 14 June 2021

הפוסט Healing the rift: The road that must be taken הופיע לראשונה ב-Mitvim.

Netanyahu dismisses with contempt the assertion that he damaged the traditional bipartisan support for Israel in the United States. He mocks his critics by saying that they cannot teach him anything about the Democratic Party. Undeniably, he does know the American system well, which makes his blatant and reckless preference of the Republican side even worse.

Former Ambassador Martin Indyk tweeted on November 8 that “it’s true that Netanyahu has known Joe Biden for nearly 40 years, but it’s also true that Joe Biden has known Netanyahu for nearly forty years.”  President-elect Biden confirmed a previous assertion, in which he said, “Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you say but I love you”. Nevertheless, Biden will pursue a very different foreign policy than that of his predecessor, Donald J. Trump.

The outgoing U.S. administration interpreted the Trumpian ideology of “America First” as “America Alone”, withdrawing from a long line of international treaties, agreements and institutions. Thus, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In matters closer to Israel, the US abandoned the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that have indeed proven to be unfair towards Israel, or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Above all, there looms the May 2018 US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Netanyahu’s Israel had loudly applauded this move but U.S. allies, such as the UK, France and Germany, did not follow through, although none of them had any illusions regarding Iran.

The Biden administration is likely to commence its return to at least some of the international instruments that Trump has jettisoned, including the Climate Change Treaty. Likewise, it may resume the nuclear deal with Iran, albeit in a different configuration and with stricter adherence to eliminating Iran’s subversive and missile activities.

The justified delight on both the banks of the Potomac and the Jordan Rivers with regard to the recently signed agreements with the United Arab Emirates, could be seasoned by the return of the a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, as the Biden administration is likely to seek promoting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This vision is unpalatable for at least some of the components of the Netanyahu government.

Netanyahu has become a vociferous critic of the two state solution. Nonetheless, history proves that he has an impressive ability to artfully collapse in the face of real pressures, be they external or internal. He had done so in the transfer of Hebron to the Palestinians, in the massive release of terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit and, more recently, in the issue of opening educational institutions for the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students while most everyone else had to keep zooming at home. This is the Netanyahu.

He would not be eager to confront a determined American administration, especially in light of his original preference for its political rivals. Some in the democratic administration may take their time in overcoming Netanyahu’s siding with the republicans. Others may demand their (Israeli) pound of flesh, claiming that it was their own “progressive” squad that ensured victory. Netanyahu may also encounter American-Jewish indifference and lack of willingness to bridge, once again, over the gap between a right-wing Israeli government and a democratic administration. He will have to mend many fences in Washington and it is not going to be easy.

In a strange “grin of history” and beyond Netanyahu and his persona, it may very well be that Israel needs a center-left government to adopt a belligerent policy, and a right-wing one to promote peace. Thus, the Israeli right wing had enthusiastically mobilized for war (such as in the Six Day War), but viciously cut short the days of a center-left government trying to reach agreements with the Palestinians. Indeed, it is in these gloomy November days that we remember so painfully the assassination that took place 25 years ago. On the other hand, a right-wing government that would promote peace agreements would always enjoy, albeit grudgingly, the support of the left, as it happened with the 1979 Camp David Accords.

It is likely that if a center-left government will attempt to renew the political process, the right wing, led by Mr. Netanyahu, would deluge it ferociously. Nevertheless, if a right-wing government is in power, Mr. Netanyahu will be able to issue even a second “Bar-Ilan speech”, accepting a two-state solution. In such a case, the right wing, perhaps with the exception of some extreme and delusional circles, would hesitate to attack its own Messiah (“King Bibi!”). The battle hardened Security Services should handle these lunatic circles, according to law, and Israel could continue on its way as a modern and advanced start-up nation.

Mr. Netanyahu may still have a historical role to play. He will have to stand before his judges and respond to the indictments leveled at him, but in the meantime, he can serve as a prime minister who could facilitate, though reluctantly, political moves proposed by the Biden administration. Along the way, Mr. Netanyahu could also act (if he so wished) to calm the socio-political turmoil he has promoted in Israel. Does this sound like too much to expect? Maybe, but hey, there is a not-so-new kid on the block now!

**The article was published on The Times of Israel, 19 November 2020.

הפוסט The Not-So-New Kid on the Block הופיע לראשונה ב-Mitvim.

Some thirty years ago, the battle of the giants between the United States led Western democracies and the Soviet Union had ended in victory. We woke up to a unipolar world, a brighter world where the only superpower was a liberal democracy, the City on the Hill. Some thought, and wrote, that this was in fact the end of history. However, we had realized very soon, how wrong we were.  As Christopher Layne wrote in his article, “The Return of Great-Power War”, (Foreign Affairs,  November/ December 2020). The incoming administration will have to live in a triple-headed global reality, with another super-power and a half, namely, with China and Russia.

This is not going to be easy. Indeed, economically speaking the US has the upper hand with a GDP of some $20,544bn, compared with China’s $13,608bn (according to the Economist 2021 edition of the Pocket World in Figures). However, the average annual growth of China’s economy in 2012-2018 was 6.9% whereas the US’s growth was only 2.4% in the same period.

In and of itself this is not intolerable, especially if one is to combine the US, the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan into a group of like-minded liberal countries. Most of these countries have advanced creative and well-educated societies with accumulated economies of some $50,000bn. Their joint military strength exceeds that of China or of Russia. Besides, given the West’s superior technologies, the US and the West should enjoy a Qualitative Military Edge.

However, this situation calls for sound and sensible leadership, the kind of which was lacking in the last few years. The US and the EU drifted apart.  The UK, which was promised by Secretary of State Pompeo that, after BREXIT, America would be there for Britain, “pen in hand” to sign an Anglo-American deal, found out that it would be neither quick nor easy. In the Middle East, we also learned once more that there is no vacuum and wherever the US vacates an arena, someone else will take over. Look in Iran penetration of Iraq, or how Turkey and Russia becoming masters of Syria or how Russian mercenaries operate in Libya, to name but a few examples. The US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has practically enabled Iran to dash towards attaining weapon-grade capabilities, while the “maximum pressure” provided no solution to Iran’s subversive activities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. It also created a rift betwee the US and its European allies.

Most of these developments resulted from faulty American leadership. It is true that the Trump administration had a major achievement in the shape of the “Abraham Accords” between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, for which we should always be grateful. We had also reached the formal American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. However, very few believe that the status of the Golan will not be challenged in future Syrian-Israeli negotiations. In the meantime, in our jubilant run towards the “Abraham Accords” with distant countries that we never had a war with, Israel and the US trampled over the Palestinian situation. This conflict will probably come back to haunt us. A sound American – and Israeli – Leadership would have thought about it ahead of time.

Thus, what the world needs now is resumed American leadership, as Vice President Biden wrote in his piece “Why America Must Lead Again” (Foreign Affairs, March/April 2020). What the world need now is a resumed American leadership, generous and sober, clear-headed and resolved, inclusive and sharing.  What we need is a responsible adult in our chaotic political life.

I recall a speech by PM Tony Blair in the US Congress back in 2003. He referred to a letter from an Idaho farmer who asked, “Why me? And why us? And why America?’ And the only answer is, said Blair, ‘Because destiny put you in this place in history, in this moment in time, and the task is yours to do’.

I hope that American voters, while solemnly casting their votes today, will also remember their global role and responsibilities as well as the scorching need to put their own society in order.

**The article was published on The Times of Israel, 3 November 2020

הפוסט Resumed American Leadership, Perhaps הופיע לראשונה ב-Mitvim.

הפוסט The Trump Plan: Not the Way to Advance Israeli-Palestinian Peace הופיע לראשונה ב-Mitvim.

Trump did not invent American isolationism, nor did he coin the “America First” slogan (that was down to Charles Lindbergh, the pilot who opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s pro-British leanings). However, Trump was the one who engineered its current, embarrassing implementation. Anyone amazed by the vanishing act of the US in Syria, forgets that the American DNA has been isolationist ever since President James Monroe conceived his namesake doctrine in 1823. The US generally goes to war in the wake of “unfriendly visits” to places such as Pearl Harbor or the World Trade Towers, but it does not rush into action following the bombing of Saudi oil fields or even the 1940 London blitz.

The abandonment of the Kurds should not have come as a surprise. Sadly, they are victims of serial desertion. The Soviet Union abandoned them (the short-lived Kurdish republic of Mahabad in western Iran) in 1946, and Iran abandoned them in 1975, followed by Israel. Erdoğan appears to have overcome his initial opposition to Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq, with its capital in Erbil. He now sees a Kurdish autonomy in northeastern Syria, with its capital in Qamishli and leadership by the PKK (the Kurdish People’s Party), which Turkey designates as a terror organization and thus as a catalyst for pan-Kurdish sentiment among the Kurdish minority within Turkey and a security threat to Ankara.

The shock in Israel is real and sincere, generating myriad reactions, beginning with Netanyahu’s (which admittedly should be viewed through the lens of Israel-Turkey relations), politicians’ condemnations, hard-to-watch footage, demonstrations, and a noble gesture by some 100 reserve officers. Some even raised their concerns that the frenetic US President would abandon Israel as he did his Kurdish allies. Indeed, in recent weeks Trump seems to be giving a lukewarm and even cold shoulder to Netanyahu, whom he may regard as a loser following two political failures.

However, Israel is not and will not be treated like the Kurds. Israel is a strong country, ranked by US News and World Report as the world’s eighth most powerful nation, immediately after Japan, the UK and France. Israeli-held territory was last invaded in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and although it got off to a lame start, Israel overcame great odds and won (with US help). Even if Trump’s creative mind may toy with thoughts of abandonment, this is unlikely feasible with congressional Democrats and Republicans (including Trump’s evangelical base) already joining hands against his Kurdish policy – despite the fact that the Kurds do not have a US political base in the form of communities, federations and legislators. We, on the other hand, do.

Israel enjoys deeply rooted ideological and political support. It has always made an effort, whether under the leadership of the Likud or of center-left parties, to fortify, preserve and nurture bipartisan US support. Israel devotedly maintained strong brotherly ties with all US Jewish streams. Beyond the basic mitzvah of pan-Jewish unity throughout the ages and time zones, given that three quarters of US Jews are Democrats, this was also a wise political move, in hindsight.

However, in recent years, under Netanyahu’s leadership, the Israeli government has been blatantly supporting Republicans and paying homage to Trump. Israel is kicking in the teeth millions of Jews who want to continue supporting it but are hard pressed to do so in light of their continued humiliation at Israel’s hand. The government’s decision rescinding its own plan for pluralistic prayer at the Wailing Wall, its policies on conversion and declarations of territorial annexation, its offensive Nationality Law and backing for ultra-racist parties, and its stand on issues of marriage and divorce all combine to alienate them from the Jewish state. Israel has become a non-enlightened state, which often needs the support of the most enlightened (Jewish) elements in American society. Once Trump is replaced, even without impeachment, we will need our Jewish brothers and sisters vis-à-vis a Democratic administration and Congress.

We may not have crossed the point of no return with US Jewry and the US political system, yet, but nothing is forever. If there is one lesson to be learned from the Trump-Kurds affair, it is that beyond building up its power, Israel should never take sides in US politics or pull out the rug from under its unity with US Jewry.

Ambassador (Ret.) Barukh Binah is a Policy Fellow at the Mitvim Institute. He served as Deputy DirectorGeneral of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in charge of North American Affairs, as Ambassador to Denmark, Consul General in Chicago, Press Officer in New York and Deputy Head of Mission in Washington, DC.

(originally published in the Jerusalem Post)

הפוסט The Lesson for Israel from the US Abandonment of the Kurds הופיע לראשונה ב-Mitvim.