Foreign Policy magazine said that former US President George H. W. Bush angered Israeli leaders in 1991 by imposing conditions on aid and putting American interests first, and although the risks have risen significantly now, the administration of President Joe Biden has not yet shown any signs of moral clarity. Himself.

The magazine indicated - in an article written by Alia Al-Ibrahimi - that the United States took a very unusual step by abstaining from voting for the UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza after 6 months of continuous Israeli war, but its ambassador immediately, and controversially, showed With great concern for the resolution to be considered “non-binding,” other American officials also did their best to “downplay” the importance of the vote.

Thus - the writer says - the strange imbalance in the relationship between the United States and Israel has become a focus in recent weeks. The Biden administration has slowed its criticism of Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant, continuing to restrict the arrival of aid carrying water, food and medicine to 70% of the Gaza Strip population facing a catastrophic man-made famine.

Alternative solutions

Although he is at the head of the world's major military power, on which Israel depends for weapons, money, and diplomatic cover, US President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, resorted to alternative solutions, such as airdropping aid and building a floating dock off the shores of Gaza.

Instead of taking lackluster measures - as the author believes - the Biden administration can benefit from the enormous American influence and follow the example of his predecessor, former Republican President George H.W. Bush, who, along with his Secretary of State, James Baker, explained to the Israelis in 1991 that they must stop using American funds to build Israeli settlements on land. Palestinian territories if they want to receive an aid package worth $10 billion in the form of loan guarantees.

A major confrontation ensued between the White House and the Israeli government, which included presidential veto threats and angry pressure in Congress from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), but Bush Sr. and Baker were firm in conditioning aid to Israel with respect for international law, and Bush said at the time Father: “I will not give up an inch.”

Although the starting points in the two issues are different, as Israel was not at war at the time, political courage in Washington is more necessary in times of war, especially with accusations against Israel of committing war crimes and perhaps genocide, and therefore Washington must muster a similar resolve today. According to the writer.

Strict insistence

The magazine reviewed the details of the crisis between President George H.W. Bush and Israel, which was sparked by the policy of then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to expand settlements, and despite the fact that Israel and its supporters were struck by a state of madness, one of the Israeli government ministers even described the American president as “anti-Semitic” and a “liar.” George H.W. Bush prevailed in the end.

During the Gulf War in the period 1990-1991, the Bush administration was able to place Israel - in Bush's words - "very carefully outside the coalition", to keep the Arab members in it, which reveals the limits of Israel's strategic value in a strategic region, according to the author.

The writer pointed out that the Bush administration's strict determination to restore his country's position as the largest partner in the American-Israeli relationship differs markedly from the lenient stance of the Biden administration, which barely deviated from explicit support to moderate rebuke after the killing of 32,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

However, there are notable historical similarities, with the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait in 1991 as the backdrop, and today there is Russia's war on Ukraine, and the same perception in the Global South of an intolerable double standard on behalf of Israel.

Just as the new world order the United States was building was at stake then, now it was about the West's revitalized commitment to defending democracy and the rule of law.

Source: Foreign Policy+ AlJazeera