Before Oct. 7, the biggest Middle East story was the growing prospect of a normalization agreement between the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The thawing of Saudi-Israeli relations was unmistakable. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in late September, “We’re getting closer to peace every day.” Earlier this month, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi…
Author: Jonathan Lord, Opinion Contributor
With the elections over, the US-Israel relationship faces new tests
The United States and Israel share a deep and enduring bond, although sometimes American and Israeli leaders have mixed like oil and water. George H.W. Bush and Yitzhak Shamir were famously incompatible. Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama had a notoriously fraught relationship. And while Washington and Jerusalem haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, our elected leaders have…
In a visit with an old friend, Israel’s Herzog can help Biden make the strategic choice
It’s always nice to visit with old friends, and while Israeli President Isaac Herzog came to Washington this week to discuss a range of gravely serious world events, he also came bearing the message that the U.S.-Israel relationship extends deeper than any policy disagreement, or any election (of which there are two about to happen…
Iran is roiling with protests, nuclear talks are stalled — Biden must raise the stakes
Iranian society exists under high pressure and perennially explodes, as it has the past two weeks with thousands of people taking to the streets, seething, following the killing of a Kurdish-Iranian woman in police custody. Mahsa Amini — or Jina Amini, had her Kurdish name not been violently suppressed by a regime so insecure that…
The greatest obstacle to returning to the Iran deal isn’t Iran — it’s Congress
Since assuming office, President Biden has been attempting to negotiate a return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which President Trump walked away from in 2018. For months, press reports have signaled that a return to the deal was close at hand, and then not,…