Dan Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Israel, said tonight (Wednesday) that he believes US President Joe Biden will call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “in the coming week.”
President Biden’s first speech on foreign policy last week // Photo: Reuters
“Biden is almost entirely focused on the urgent things he faces, such as the corona plague and the vaccine program, and he received a very confused plan from the Trump administration,” Shapiro said during the event. “He wants to help people get out of the corona crisis, the race crisis and the climate change crisis. He wants to fix the alliance with NATO countries and the US allies in Asia first. A lot of damage has been done to this important relationship during the time of former President Donald Trump. “In economics and technology it is in rivalry with China and it has to deal with Russia’s aggressiveness. This is a long list of priorities that it will have to deal with.”

The former ambassador stressed that relations between Israel and the United States have not changed: “Biden feels deep down that the United States is committed to ensuring Israel’s security. He was committed to this even when he was a senator and was there for Israel’s strongest supporter in the Senate. He sees the United States “Protects the legitimacy of Israel, whether it is at the UN or in the Hague court, for example.”

“Biden sees Iran as a dangerous regime that is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, supports terrorist organizations and more, but there are also some things it has to deal with – today Iran is closer to a nuclear bomb than when Trump took office,” Shapiro said. “After Trump left the agreement and Iran began to breach its commitment, it is now less than six months away from reaching nuclear weapons. Yes, Trump has managed to impose sanctions on Iran, but without cooperating with Europe or Russia and China, only Israel, the Emirates and Biden will have to deal. “With that, he is not in a hurry, he is putting pressure on the Iranians.”
In conclusion, when Shapiro was asked if he might take part in the new administration, he said he currently has no news on the subject: “You have always confirmed the relationship between Israel and the United States, in any position, whether as a private citizen or in an official position.”