US Mistakes in the Middle East Conflict: Coddling Their Friends, Ignoring Their Enemies

How different were Joe Biden’s (80) trips to the Middle East. When he flew to Israel in July 2022, he brought the Jewish state together with hostile Saudi Arabia. It was reason for hope and a masterpiece of foreign policy by the aging American president, whose top priority is peace in the Middle East.

The trip last Wednesday took place under completely different circumstances. Instead of easing like a year ago, there is a brutal war that Hamas surprisingly started two weeks ago. Thousands of rockets exploded in Israel and hundreds of civilians were killed or kidnapped during the invasion. Babies, children, the disabled and the elderly were also found among the executed.

Another brutal highlight of the war was Tuesday evening’s rocket attack on Al-Ahli hospital near Gaza City. Initial assessments by US and European secret services have suggested that a misplaced rocket from the Gaza Strip was responsible for the tragedy that may have killed more than 500 – although this high figure announced by Hamas is in doubt.

The US must influence Israel

Biden’s mission into the eye of the storm was a powerful signal, but the payoff was weak. He did ensure that the aid blockade for the Gaza Strip was lifted and that Israel at least waited before launching a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, preventing Hezbollah in Lebanon from intervening in the war. But nothing came of the planned talks with the Palestinians and with neighboring states that could intervene. Egypt and Jordan rejected Biden after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, 87, canceled the meeting over the rocket explosion at the hospital.

Biden’s response to the war is to put together another multi-billion dollar package for Israel. He announced this on Friday at the White House. However, to calm the situation in the Middle East in the long term, a critical discussion with the friendly state is also necessary.

Because of this friendship, the United States has failed several times to bind Israel back. So they tolerated Israel developing the atomic bomb. Even when it comes to settlement construction, which the UN says is illegal under international law, Americans have recently shied away from condemning the creeping occupation of the West Bank. Settler violence against Palestinians in June is one of the main reasons why Hamas is currently attacking Israel again.

Bush intervened

George HW Bush (1924–2018) was an American president who wanted to put an end to settlement construction. In 1989, his Secretary of State James Baker (93) told Aipac, the main Israeli lobby in the US: “It is now time for Israel to bury the unrealistic vision of a Greater Israel once and for all. Stop the annexation, stop the settlement activities. And as neighbors, reach out to Palestinians who deserve political rights.”

To be fair, the United States is not responsible for the war between Israel and the Palestinians. But they share responsibility for the fact that the peace process between these two fronts has not developed further in recent years.

On the one hand, the US must support, advise and, if necessary, restrain its friend. On the other hand, Washington should not ignore the plight and needs of the Palestinians. What is needed is a helping hand to the Palestinians, so that the terrorist organization Hamas is deprived of the breeding ground for hatred.

Trump is ready

Elections are coming in the US. If Biden continues to spend billions on conflicts in distant countries without a solution, it will hurt him. We know who is in the starting blocks again: it is a man who has already been president and in that capacity the American embassy has started moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This action was not only a declaration of friendship, but a declaration of love for Israel – but at the same time a pure provocation for the Arabs.

Time is running out for Biden. If Donald Trump (77) returns to power, détente in the Middle East will probably be even further away.