2024-03-21 20:02
Source: Xinhuanet
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JERUSALEM, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli-US relations "seem to be moving" but "not moving"
Xinhua News Agency reporters Lu Yingxu and Wang Zhuolun
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will begin his sixth trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the 20th, and will visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and other countries. Blinken's visit comes at a time of "tension" between Israel and the United States. Recently, Israel and the United States have been "quarrelling" over the Israeli army's battle plan for Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. In addition, the U.S. government has announced sanctions against a number of Israeli Jewish settlers and Jewish settlements in the West Bank for destabilizing the West Bank.
Analysts point out that as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate, the United States, as Israel's main supporter, is under increasing domestic and foreign pressure, so it has made some moves that appear to be pressuring Israel. However, these actions of the US side have little substantive significance in promoting a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the firm US-Israel alliance has not changed substantially.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 12, 2023. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Israeli Information Office)
There seems to be a contradiction
Since the outbreak of the new Israeli-Palestinian conflict last October, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 30,000. As Israel's main military donor, the U.S. government is under increasing pressure at home and abroad. Recently, the US side has publicly criticized Israel on many occasions in an attempt to reduce the pressure of public opinion.
U.S. President Joe Biden previously warned the Israeli side that attacking Rafah would be stepping on a "red line". However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that the Israeli army will continue to advance its operation in Rafah and completely destroy the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and there is no pressure to stop the Israeli army.
At the same time, there are a large number of voices in the United States and the international community calling on the US Government to reduce or even cut off military aid to Israel, but the US Government has turned a deaf ear to this. An article on the website of Spain's "El País" said that since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States has never stopped supplying weapons to Israel. Washington has several means to get Israel to listen to its advice, "but it doesn't work for any of them."
In addition, "contradictions" have also emerged between the United States and Israel over the issue of Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Israel has long been encroaching on Palestinian land through new settlements in the West Bank, which has been strongly opposed by the Palestinian side. Since the outbreak of the current round of conflict, the Israeli army has not only tightened its grip on the West Bank, but also increased the number of attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
Biden signed an executive order in early February against Israeli Jewish settlers in the West Bank for violence and announced sanctions against four Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian civilians. On the 14th of this month, the United States again announced sanctions against three Israeli Jewish settlers and two Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
However, some Israeli officials have described the recent US sanctions as a "symbolic move" with no substance.
People inspect a car in the West Bank city of Jenin on February 22 after being hit by an Israeli drone. Xinhua News Agency
Serve both sides of the internal affairs
Analysts pointed out that the recent disagreement between the United States and Israel is mainly due to the fact that the United States has entered the election period, and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has aroused dissatisfaction among Arab voters in the United States. To win back the support of these voters, the Biden administration needs to make some gestures.
Palestinian political analyst Ismat Mansour told Xinhua News Agency that the so-called "disagreement" between Israel and the United States is because Israel's military action in Gaza has affected public opinion in the United States, and may even affect Biden's election.
In the 2024 U.S. presidential election Michigan Democratic primary that ended on February 27, although Biden defeated his party rival, more than 100,000 Democratic voters in the state ticked the "no promise" option on the ballot, known as "protest votes". There are a large number of Arab-Americans in Michigan, who are dissatisfied with the Biden administration's "pulling the strings" since the outbreak of the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. As the campaign moves forward, the Biden administration is likely to continue to distance itself from some of the Israeli government's decisions in order to win back the support of these "no-promise" voters.
Netanyahu, for the sake of his political future, has had to continue his military campaign in Gaza in order to win the support of the far-right forces in the country and prevent the collapse of the ruling coalition. In the short term, this has led to "friction" in Israeli-US relations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv on January 9. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Information Office of the Government of Israel)
Not fundamentally divided
The Arab media Al-Quds Al-Arab Newspaper, published in Britain, recently published an article pointing out that the United States continues to influence the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by sending aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean, vetoing the UN draft resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and supplying weapons to Israel. In this round of conflict, there is an "informal division of labor" between Israel and the United States, with Israel attacking Hamas and the United States trying to use the opportunity to deter other countries.
Some analysts believe that the differences between Israel and the United States over the recent Israeli military action against Rafah are mainly focused on "how to manage the operation" rather than the goal of the operation itself. Palestinian political analyst Ibrahim Rabahia told Xinhua that the United States supports Israel's continued military operation in the Gaza Strip but fears more casualties and affects its international image.
Netanyahu and Biden agreed on a phone call on the 18th that the two countries would soon hold a meeting in Washington to discuss the plan for the Israeli army to launch a ground operation in Rafah, at which time the US side would propose an "alternative". According to the analysis of Israeli media sources, the "alternative" may be a small-scale "surgical" attack.
Analysts have pointed out that the foundation of Israeli-US relations is difficult to shake. Israel is an important ally and partner of the United States in the Middle East, and the United States has always given strong support and protection to Israel. Benjamin Miller, an expert on international relations at the University of Haifa in Israel, said that Israel also needs to continue to maintain close alliances with the United States. Without the diplomatic and economic support of the United States, Israel cannot cope with the current situation. (Participating reporter: Liu Weijian)