Upon hearing the enthusiastic descriptions that accompanied the swearing-in ceremony this week, one might have thought that the heavenly elder who entered the White House was the Messiah, and that he had expelled Satan. Indeed, the way Trump left Washington was like a refined summary of his tenure: ugly, petty and without a single ounce of style. In American history he will be registered as a president who has sent protesters to threaten democracy, but in our regional history he will be registered as a president who has changed the face of the Middle East for the better, and this cannot be said of any other president in recent decades.
George W. Bush, charged with good intentions, destroyed the old and stable order in the area and led it into chaos. Barack Obama breathed a sigh of relief in the “Arab Spring” and sentenced hundreds to thousands to death, and misery to millions. Along the way he also gave Iran the green light and economic ability to spread into Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and spread its terror gospel. Carter and Clinton gave a late seal to the breakthroughs that Israel itself achieved with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians. Trump on the other hand was a real game changer.
Biden signs first orders as US president at White House (Photo: Reuters)
In six months, he reached four recognition and peace agreements between Israel and Arab countries and returned Qatar to the Arab nation. He did not have to do that. Trump could have recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara in exchange for an arms deal, but he insisted that the agreement include recognition of Israel. He could have sold 35F to the Emirates without blinking an eye, but he insisted it would be under a peace deal with Israel.
The catalogers will claim that he reached agreements with countries that did not have hostile relations with Israel, but the fact is that none of his predecessors achieved it. In recent months, Trump has laid the foundations for an Israeli-Arab alliance against Iran and made Israel a legitimate partner of the Sunni world. This change will remain for years to come, and American recognition of the Israeli capital will remain a fact. If Biden has the wisdom to leverage the momentum Trump started, it will be possible to really establish a new Middle East here.
Right now Biden’s tendency is to quickly undo everything his predecessor did. From the moment he sat down in the Oval Office he began to undo all of Trump’s decisions, just as Trump did to Obama’s decisions. It is clear that Trump has left behind a lot of destruction and damage that needs to be repaired, but it would be a mistake for the new administration to undo his achievements in the Middle East.
His line of appointments does not bode well. Nearly all of Obama, the architects of the disgraceful nuclear deal with Iran, have been placed in key positions: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA chief Bill Burns, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and above them the chief architect of the agreement, John Kerry, who will be a cabinet member Of Biden. All of this is a cause for concern in Israel, which is also not reassured by the reassuring messages sent by the designated Foreign Minister Tony Blinken.
The prime minister is waiting for the first phone call with Biden as president to see if he intends to return to the previous nuclear deal as a starting point, or if he is open to drafting a new and improved nuclear deal. Only after this conversation will Netanyahu decide whether to return to action against the administration, as he did in the days of Obama, or to work with the administration to improve the agreement. Netanyahu tends to think that an improved agreement cannot be reached.
Israel’s ultimate wish list against Iran was nicely summed up in former Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo’s ’12 points’ document. It includes severe restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, its expansion into the region, its support for terrorism and the proliferation of ballistic missiles. No one is mistaken in the illusion that the whole list can be realized, but an unscientific survey I conducted in recent weeks at the top of Israel’s security has a consensus on one point: “sunset.” This is a ruling that states that by 2025 the restrictions on the nuclear program will be lifted, that is, it will give Iran a license to produce nuclear weapons – and it must be abolished.
Beyond this problematic paragraph – opinions are divided. Some believe that the focus should be on tightening restrictions on the nuclear program, and some argue that it is better to concentrate on reducing Iran’s regional influence. The majority believes that if Biden continues under the maximum pressure of sanctions against Iran, he will be able to reach a better agreement with Israel. Declaring war on the Biden administration currently seems to be the least successful option for us.
What’s more, it will now be difficult for Netanyahu to mobilize Congress against the president, as he did in the past. The Biden administration is almost devoid of Egypt. He enjoys control of the House of Representatives and the ability to gain a majority in the Senate. Of the balances and brakes on the principle of separation of powers, only the judiciary remains, where Trump has managed to appoint a conservative judge who can tip the scales and turn the Supreme Court against me. Be that as it may, even at her death, Judge Ruth Bader Ginzburg contributed to American democracy.
The demonstration of hypocrisy
Biden will also have to find balances and brakes for the fourth and most significant authority facing him: social media. In an astonishing display of hypocrisy and flattery, social media silenced Trump and his supporters at the end of his life, and this is after four years in which he did wonders for their traffic. Facebook and Twitter, which provide a platform for all human impurity, which flows rivers of filth and sewage into our minds, suddenly remembered that they are also responsible for the content that is published in them.
After four years of fueling hatred and spreading every abominable message and instinct, the owners of the networks realized that American lawmakers were about to repay them and impose restrictions and responsibilities on them. The chains have now gone out of their way to belittle Biden, and he must not be blinded by the flattery. If Twitter and Facebook have suddenly become so sensitive to spreading controversial messages, they will also respect and block the accounts of cruel dictators, terrorist organizations and their supporters, anti-Semites and other poisoners. Anyone who wants to bring about a series of change must stop the abandonment of the social network.
The author is the military commentator for News 13
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