Then-Vice-president Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2010. (AFP) |
While Americans were voting on November 3, Israel was experiencing its first heavy winter rains. The inclement weather paired well with the stormy progress of the US vote count.
Israel’s leftists and centrists have welcomed Joe Biden’s win, but President Donald Trump’s defeat is unlikely to be welcome news for his close ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the many Israelis who thought Trump was good for Israel.
Israelis have applauded Trump for measures like moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli control of the Golan Heights and making it clear that America is Israel’s closest ally.
However, for all the adoration, Trump never spent much time in Israel and his zig-zags on foreign policy, such as his order to withdraw US troops from part of Syria in October 2019, left some wondering whether he could turn on Israel if he felt it wasn’t skipping to his beat. While Israelis broadly like Trump, they are less familiar with Joe Biden and have many more concerns closer to home.
Israel has experienced three elections in less than two years, Covid-19 lockdowns and multiple protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
New peace deals between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are important -- and the next US president must invest in those relations as key to US strategy in the Middle East. For Israelis, it’s essential that the Biden administration stands with them against Iran’s threats, deters an increasingly hostile Turkey and improves American bipartisan support for the country.
Seth Frantzman is a Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum and senior Middle East correspondent at The Jerusalem Post.
