It is anything but a given that the President of the United States would travel to a war zone. Joe Biden has now done this for the second time. After a flying visit to Kiev, he has now also visited Israel. Both times, Biden’s performances were a great success.
“It was an extraordinary moment during Biden’s term in office,” the Washington Post wrote. “The 80-year-old president landed in the middle of a region torn by violence and chaos, intent on proving America’s loyalty, warning the warmongers and perhaps proving his fitness.”
Memories of Golda Meir
Biden immediately found the right tone. He reminded Israelis of legendary Prime Minister Golda Meir, whom he knew personally as a young senator. “She said to me, why are you looking at the world with such concern, Senator Biden? We’re not worried. We Israelis have a secret weapon: we have nowhere else to go.”
As president, Biden has now found the right answer to Meir’s question. “Today I can say to Israel: the United States is not going anywhere either. We go with you. We are by your side in these dark days. We will be with you even on the better days – and they will come again.”
Biden not only comforted, he also gave clear warnings. “Do not!” he stated unequivocally against Hezbollah and Iran if they were to consider intervening in the conflict. And based on Theodore Roosevelt’s legendary quote: “Speak softly, but carry a big stick,” the US president ordered two aircraft carriers sent into the Mediterranean.
Finally, Biden also made it clear that he believes that it is not them, but the Palestinians themselves, who bombed the hospital in the Gaza Strip.
But also Benjamin Netanyahu & Co. had to accept criticism. Biden made a thinly veiled suggestion that he doesn’t think a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip is a good idea. He recalled the days after the terrorist attack on the Word Trade Center towers in New York on September 11, 2001. At the time, Biden self-critically said, the US acted out of anger and took revenge, and that later turned out to be the case. an error.
In fact, a ground offensive is extremely difficult to carry out militarily and would cost major losses on both sides, probably including civilian casualties. And even if this offensive were successful: what then?
Biden is talking about the two-state solution again
“There is no alternative authority,” notes veteran foreign policy expert Richard Haass in “Foreign Affairs.” “The Palestinian government in power in the West Bank lacks legitimacy. No Arab government will step into this gap and take responsibility for the Gaza Strip. Therefore, a copy of Hamas would quickly emerge, as was the case in 2005 when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip.
Very surprisingly, Biden brought up the second state solution again. Most people consider the plan to grant the Palestinians their own state dead. However, the US president remains convinced that this is the only way to achieve long-term peace in this region torn by terror and hatred.
On domestic policy, Biden also has to walk a tightrope. The Republicans are waiting for any misstep, no matter how small. But even within our own ranks, criticism of Israel is no longer taboo. Netanyahu’s right-wing populist government has destroyed many dishes in liberal circles in America – including among Jews. That’s why 55 Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter demanding that the blockade of the Gaza Strip be lifted. Biden was able to meet this demand. He has ensured that $100 million worth of relief supplies can now be delivered to Gaza via Egypt.
The new “Axis of Evil”
The conflict is not limited to the Middle East. It shows once again that a new geopolitical ‘axis of evil’ has emerged. This term emerged in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. At the time, George W. Bush’s administration included the states of Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
The new ‘Axis of Evil’ consists of Russia, China and Iran, with North Korea as an auxiliary power. They all share the same goal: to overthrow the US as a superpower. “The United States faces the greatest security threat in decades, perhaps ever,” says former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in “Foreign Affairs.” “They have never simultaneously faced four allied adversaries – Russia, China, North Korea and Iran – whose nuclear arsenals are about twice theirs.”
For Russia and China, the conflict in the Middle East is a new part of their plan to undermine American power. Neither has yet condemned Hamas’s horrific attack. Both want to use the opportunity to increase polarization between the liberal West and authoritarian states like Russia.
By doing this they also try to expand their influence on the former developing countries – today we speak of the Global South. They have long felt neglected by the West and especially by the US, sometimes rightly so. This resentment must be harnessed now. Hanna Notte of the James Martin Center, a think tank, explains in the New York Times: “The US is on the side of Israel, which is depicted as an occupying power. Russia wants to take advantage of this.”
In a keynote speech to the nation today, Joe Biden wants to emphasize the geopolitical dimension of the conflict in the Middle East and make clear once again that we are currently facing the decisive geopolitical fork in the road of this century – whether in the Middle East, Ukraine or Taiwan: can we assume that the liberal order in the West will be maintained, or will the authoritarian states of the new ‘Axis of Evil’ prevail?
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
