At the start of the year, Israel and the United States are embarking on a veritable diplomatic ballet, and Jake Sullivan is leading the way. The US National Security Advisor met with several Israeli officials. With Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, he notably discussed Iran and Saudi Arabia. Washington is also seeking to ensure that its main ally in the Middle East does not cross all the red lines in the Israeli-Palestinian file. Especially since the coming to power of far-right parties in Israel.
With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Sami Boukhelifa
Israel – United States: unfailing allies, but not in agreement on everything. In Washington, Joe Biden’s administration still believes in the two-state solution. A Palestinian state and an Israeli state, living side by side. This is also the consensus advocated by the international community.
Within the new Israeli government, however, some have buried this two-state solution for a long time.
Ministers from the extreme right are openly annexationists. They multiply the declarations to affirm the Israeli sovereignty on the whole of the Palestinian Territories.
פגישת עבודה עם היועץ לביטחון לאומי של ארה”ב, ג’ייק סאליבן: דנו בהתמודדות משותפת לעצירת תכנית הגרעין האיראנית ופעילותה של איראן באזורנו. עסקנו בצעדים הבאים להעמקת הסכמי אברהם והרחבת מעגל השלום של ישראל בדגש על פריצת דרך מול סעודיה. ברוך הבא לישראל!
(צילום: קובי גדעון, לע״מ) pic.twitter.com/uVgBnf2Jaz
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 19, 2023
Consensus on the Abraham Accords
It is not regional security issues that will reconcile the Jewish state and the White House. There too, two visions clash.
Israel advocates armed action against Iran, which it accuses of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons. For this, it needs the support of the world’s leading military power.
The White House rejects, for the moment, the idea of getting bogged down in a new conflict in the Middle East.
There remains one file on which there is consensus: the Abraham Accords and the normalization of relations with Arab countries. Israel would like peace with Saudi Arabia, and is counting on American mediation to achieve this.
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