Hamas’ unexpected attack on Israel caught the White House off guard. The tragedy takes place in the midst of Washington’s commitment to promote diplomatic normalization between the Government of Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia, a relationship described as an anti-Iran clampdown, where there was a celebration yesterday. Aggression has all the potential to derail this plan.
The talks seek the recognition of Israel by Riyadh in exchange for the United States selling them weapons, having security guarantees and help in the construction of a civilian nuclear program, without forgetting Palestine.
The kingdom on Saturday called for a de-escalation of violence and insisted on the demand for a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, as the only way to peace. “We recall the continuous warnings of the danger that this situation will explode as a result of the continued occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinians of their legitimate rights and the systematic repetition of provocations against their holy places”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Saudi With the announcement, the whole process is up in the air, with the danger of the conflict spreading.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Saturday. Biden expressed his condemnation of the “heinous attack by Hamas” and “the solid and unbreakable” willingness to support the government and people of Israel.
“Terrorism is never justified. Israel has every right to defend itself. The United States warns any other party hostile to Israel that wants to take advantage of this situation,” the president remarked.
As a backdrop, and despite the expressions of good will, the rapprochement between the Israelis and the Saudis was seen as a way of leaving aside the Palestinians, who had been forgotten in their demand for a state of their own for decades.
Russia did not waste the opportunity to heal the wound at the expense of the rapprochement promoted by the administration of the United States. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev considers the US “a key player” in the escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine. “These idiots have interfered”, he stressed in direct allusion to the attempt to facilitate Western integration in the Arab world.
However, it didn’t take leaving the United States to find another load of funds against White House policy. Trump, always ready to extract personal income from any situation, disclosed on his social network that “unfortunately, our taxpayers’ money has contributed to these attacks; many reports say [the money] came from the Biden administration.” He did not specify what he was referring to, but in his environment they alluded to the 6,000 million provided by Washington to Tehran to release five American citizens. These millions did not come out of US coffers. It was Iranian money withheld by sanctions.
Trump’s other lie was to say that he had brought peace to the Middle East with the Abraham deal and that Biden had obstructed it.
The 2020 pact included the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The Saudis rejected him largely because of the Palestinian issue. In contrast to his predecessor, Biden is betting on the Israel-Saudi Arabia understanding to pacify the area, help Jerusalem, and distance Riyadh from Beijing.
