Israel likely fears that the coming Biden Administration will hinder the freedom that it enjoyed to act as it deemed fit throughout the Trump years, so would like to get as much done as it can while Trump remains president.
Background
President Trump has, arguably, supported Israel more than any of his predecessors. He travelled to Israel on his first foreign trip, a highly-symbolic gesture, recognised Jerusalem as its capital and moved the US embassy there, increased military aid to Israel by US$400 million (approx. $544 million), pulled the US out of the flawed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal) that his immediate predecessor initiated, backed Israel’s right to defend itself in Gaza, declared that Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria are not illegal under international law and did not object when Israel’s Defence Minister, Naftali Bennett, said that a new Jewish neighbourhood would be created in Hebron and has never criticised Israel in public, among other ways. It is not surprising, then, that it was in Israel’s interest that he was returned to office.
In the event, Mr Trump lost the presidential election and Mr Biden will succeed him as president. Mr Biden has stated that he would return to the JCPOA, leading a senior Israeli politician to comment that his plan, if Mr Biden were to stick to it, would force Israel into a war with Iran. As Mr Tzachi Hanegbi said, ‘Biden has said openly for a long time that he will go back to the nuclear agreement. I see that as something that will lead to a confrontation between Israel and Iran.’ In his view and, according to him, that of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the general Israeli population, the JCPOA was ‘mistaken – and that’s an understatement.’
Mr Biden, the President-Elect, will take office on 20 January, until which time Mr Trump will remain the President of the United States.
Read the article by Lindsay Hughes, Senior Research Analyst, Indo-Pacific Research Programme in Future Directions International.