Maybe Joe Biden is treating Benjamin Netanyahu normally - analysis

The previous two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, gave Israel an inordinate amount of attention, in different ways.

By LAHAV HARKOV
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu shows then-vice president Joe Biden where to sign the guest book, at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem in 2010. (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu shows then-vice president Joe Biden where to sign the guest book, at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem in 2010.
(photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
In the two-and-a-half weeks since Biden’s inauguration, he hasn’t found the time to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and some have made a fuss about it. The problem, in this case, may be more with the people making the fuss than the actual lack of a phone call.
The previous two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, gave Israel an inordinate amount of attention, in different ways. Obama, intent on putting “daylight” between the US and Israel, pressured Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians, and then pursued a nuclear deal with Iran, partly out of concerns that Israel would attack, which would have provided Iran with a legal path to the bomb.
Trump was much friendlier to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and facilitating the normalization of Israel and four Arab states via the Abraham Accords. But that embrace from a highly polarizing president now under impeachment for allegedly inciting an insurrection was, in some ways, a bear hug, the consequences of which Israel will have to deal with moving forward.
Some have said Biden is now giving Netanyahu the cold shoulder as a response to the prime minister returning Trump’s warm embrace, and that could be so.
But it’s worth considering the explanation that Biden is trying to be the “normal” president.
"Biden signals return to normality on first day as president," the Financial Times headline read last month. "Biden promises a return to normalcy," The San Francisco Chronicle wrote. CNN said "President Biden sets bold timeline for a return to normal life."
Right now, the US, like the rest of the world, is in the throes of a pandemic. The US is in 10th place for average COVID-19 deaths per million people, according to Our World in Data (though it must be considered that some countries do not report data reliably). It is also the leader in hospitalizations with coronavirus, though that is a category in which most of the world does not provide data.
For the foreseeable future, COVID-19 will be Biden’s top priority – and he said as much before entering office. After that come myriad domestic issues.
Still, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said recently, foreign policy is Biden’s “first love.” Biden did take the time to give a foreign policy speech last week – but he didn’t mention Israel once. He also didn’t mention the Iran nuclear threat. The only Middle Eastern issue he discussed was the civil war in Yemen and related humanitarian crisis, making an oblique reference to Iran’s sponsorship of the Houthi rebels.
And that’s fine for Israel. We don’t have a war going on. The Biden administration doesn’t have any “gifts” for us a-la Trump, but the president also clearly doesn’t think becoming the umpteenth US leader to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians – and the pressure on Jerusalem that would inevitably come with it – is a top priority at the moment. Do we really need to be mentioned in his speech right now?
The mainstays of the US-Israel relationship are still there, with CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie visiting, indicating continued security cooperation between the countries. No one in power is threatening to scale any of that back.
Plus, there is some action going on outside the Oval Office that is of interest to Israel, like calls from the US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser to Jerusalem, various public statements calling for Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement and promising to speak with regional allies before Iran, and the State Department official with the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio calling Palestinian officials. And the State Department came out against the International Criminal Court ruling that it may investigate Israel for war crimes.
But Biden hasn’t dipped his toes into the Middle East pool since his inauguration. He hasn’t called any leaders from the region yet, so Netanyahu is not being uniquely snubbed.
Those who think the lack of phone call is indicative of some kind of crisis may want to consider whether it is in Israel’s interest to always be at the center of attention. Israelis often inveigh against double-standards when every move the government or military makes is turned over and picked at constantly by the international community. A little peace and quiet from Washington could do us good.
America – or at least its leadership – is touting a return to normalcy. Israel might benefit from being treated like a normal American ally, as well.