U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 58, consulted with 71-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran’s role in the latest skirmish between Hamas and the Israel. U.S. officials find themselves flummoxed over what to do with Hamas, a recognized terrorist group and part of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, with whom Eyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis negotiated May 20 an end to the 10-day rocket war with Israel. Everyone knew it would end badly for Hamas with mass casualties and infrastructure damage to the dilapidated Gaza Strip. U.S. and European Union [EU] officials do not have diplomatic relations or enter into peace negotiations with Hamas, largely because its 1987 charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Yet it’s beyond ironic that El-Sisi, who views the Muslim Brotherhood as a mortal enemy, negotiated with Hamas.
Since seizing Gaza in 2007, Hamas has been the new normal in the Palestinian territories. While the U.S. and EU officially recognized 85-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the official representative of the Palestinian people, Gaza’s 56-year-old leader Ismail Haniyeh represents one half of the Palestinian people. Haniyeh ignores Abbas because he believes Abbas is too old and too out-of-touch to lead the Palestinian people. Whatever the misery Haniyeh brought to Gaza with its rocket war with Israel, Hamas also refreshed the global dialogue about Palestinian rights. Whatever the actual costs in the billions to Gaza, Haniyeh managed, after four-long years with former President Donald Trump, to refocus world attention back on Palestine. Blinken met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Meeting with Netanyahu over the fragile ceasefire, Blinken knows that the prime minister’s tenure may be over soon with conservative Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett announcing he would join with opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a new coalition government as early as Sunday, May 30. Joining forces Bennett and Lapid could effectively end the12-year rule of Natanyahu, who received high marks for prosecuting the latest skirmish with Hamas. With Hamas firing largely Iranian rockets at Israel, Blinken wanted to ask Netanyahu about what should be done with Iran. Blinken’s well aware of upcoming Iraninan presidential elections June 18, Blinken wants to know how any new Iranian Nuke Deal would affect Israel’s national security. Iran uses Hamas in its ongoing proxy war against Israel much like it supplies missiles-and-cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels to battle Saudi Arabia.
Blinken reassured Netanyahu that whatever happens with any new Iranian Nuke Deal currently underway in Vienna, the U.S. would strengthen its ties with Israel. Netanyahu told Blinken that without a firm commitment by Iran to stop its proxy wars in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he would oppose any new deal with Iran. Blinken knows that Iran’s 82-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seeks to install conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi to replace moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani tired-but-failed to get Khamenei to add moderate candidates to Iran’s presidential list. But the Ayatollah is committed to find a potential successor as he nears the end of his 30-year-rule as Supreme Leader. Picking Raisi as president would continue Iran’s anti-Israel policies, prompting Blinken to pause about rubber-stamping a new Nuke Deal. U.S. and EU officials have no real peace partner in Palestine.
Abbas is simply too old and out of touch with more radical trends in the Palestinian population. While Abbas has served as a U.S.-backed peace partner in the past, he’s shown he doesn’t have the backing of the West Bank population. Abbas called off parliamentary elections April 30 because he knows that Hamas would likely win a majority. Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006, prompting the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007. If Abbas holds elections in Ramallah, he’d likely be replaced by a new Hamas leader. U.S. and EU officials pretend that Abbas represents the Palestinian people. Any new parliamentary election, like in 2006, would consolidate more power for Hamas. U.S. and EU officials have a difficult time recognizing Hamas because its charter calls for the destruction of Israel. If Hamas wants legitimacy, it needs to change its charter to recognize Israel.
Blinken needs a foreign policy success after botching recent attempts with China and Russia. U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relation are worse now that any time since the Cold War. China didn’t appreciate Blinken accusing Beijing March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska of genocide against its Muslim Uyghur population. Russia didn’t appreciate Blinken demanding Feb. 1 that Russian President Vladimir Putin release 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny from a Russian penal colony. Biden didn’t help U.S.-Russian relations when he called Putin as “soulless killer” March 16. When Biden meets with Putin in Geneva for a summit June 16, he needs to park the hostile rhetoric at the door and deal with a host of cooperative issues, including dealing with regional conflicts in Ukraine and climate change. Putin’s more than willing to meet Biden halfway on all issues that affect both superpowers.
