New President of the United States Joseph Biden held first telephone talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel since inauguration.

In talks, the leaders of both sides discussed the issues of bilateral relations, as well as security and peace in the region.

According to the tradition of the White House, the new president holds first phone talks with the leaders of Israel. However, such a situation did not occur at this time.  President Biden, with breaking American tradition, did not make a phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu in the first days of his activity. He talked with Israeli leader after one month since taking the office.

For some experts, it is a sign of negative attitude by the US President to Netanyahu government.

Further to the clarification of this issue, Mikhail Finkel, an Israeli expert on international relations, shared comments with Eurasia Diary about the prospects of the US-Israel relations in the period of Biden administration. Mikhail Finkel is prominent commentator on political and religious issues for a number of media outlets. 

Initially, Finkel points out that the relationship between Israel and the United States has always been on the high level. He also confirmed that the previous Presidents of the United States have made first phone calls to the leaders of Israel.

“Unfortunately, such a situation did not happen at this time. Biden has shown an attitude to Netanyahu that I disfavor you, because you were a supporter of Donald Trump and Republicans in past. You did not support Democratic Party. This is a basic emotional reflection by Biden of Netanyahu’s preferences. This is the same thing former President Obama used to do,” said Finkel. 

According to the view of Israeli expert, Joseph Biden will undoubtedly follow the past policy of Obama.

“He will try to make peace, and he will try to be second Jimmy Carter. He will try to do what he can in order to bring Israel and Palestinian Authority to the table. But all of his efforts will fail. Netanyahu for eight years did not obey Obama. If Netanyahu wins in the next elections, he will not follow the policy of Biden administration,” he noted.

Viewing the future diplomatic relations between Washington and Jerusalem, Finkel believes that the upcoming four years of the Biden administration will be tougher for Israel.

 “There will be difficult times for Israel.  However, Israel will resist and not bow down. Our country will not obey those pursuing the suicidal policies of the Biden administration,” he said.

“Biden’s attempts to make peace with all our enemies like Chamberlain’s agreement with Hitler. I would like to note that Israel will not be a suicidal country, and we will do everything which is beneficial for our country,” he added.

Moreover, Israeli expert stressed that Jerusalem will not make any concessions in the territorial issues.

“We will not give our lands to our enemies. We will not compromise our lands to the Hamas terrorist organization. We will not anymore believe in “Land for Peace” formula, which was subjected to great failure. By the way, we gave Gaza strip to Palestinians in past, where Hamas has won and remained there for years. From Gaza, Hamas has launched missiles at the residential areas of Israel for many times,” he said.

Israeli expert also added; “I believe that there will be tension between Israel and Biden administration. But Biden is a weak leader. He is very old, and he has a problem with his mental health. And what is extremely important for us is to have better ties with Vice-President.”

Furthermore, Finkel commented on the US return to the nuclear deal with Iran.  He considers that the Biden administration wants to revive the nuclear deal with Islamic regime.

 “Iranian regime is a liar. They expelled all international observers from various sides. We Israelis know very well what works Iranians are doing in the nuclear project. We do not trust them. We do not believe in their claims that they will use the nuclear project in a peaceful manner. They are building a nuclear bomb. They have many times said that the first bomb will be launched at Israel. And we will not let this happen” he said.

Touching upon his country’s power and strength, he underscored that Israel would never compromise its security. 

“Israel is the strongest power in the Middle East. We have such abilities no one has.  Our country can act independently.  I would like to inform you  that Israel destroyed Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1982 without any attack from Iraqi side. We did the same thing in Syria,” he noted.

In his opinion, any deal by the United States with Iran should serve in favor of the interests and purposes of Israel.

“If any deal promoted by the Biden administration with Iran does not consider the interests of Israel, it will adversely affect the relationship between Israel and the United States. Any unilateral step toward this direction will not serve the purpose of friendship between two countries,” he stressed.

"Unfortunately, there is a trend for decades that while Republicans become better to Israel, Democrats become worse to their ally.  In reality, we live with this trend," he concluded.

by Yunis Abdullayev