With this statement, the Crown Prince appeared to dash the Bidenâs administrationâs lingering hopes of achieving a landmark normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which would have also given Riyadh a U.S. defense agreement as well as a pledge to assist in the establishment of a civilian nuclear program.
Although the Biden administration had previously signaled that they might be willing to move forward with the U.S.-Saudi defense agreement even in the absence of normalization with Israel, MBSâ announcement appears to finally kill the possibility of the so-called âGrand Bargainâ that Presidential advisors Brett McGurk, Jake Sullivan, and other senior Biden officials had hoped would offer a means of countering China, resolving the Gaza crisis, and topping Trumpâs Abraham Accords all in one.
I have no problem throwing both of them on the pile of terrorist states we don't deal with. Israel's actions are not making the world a better/safer place for any western democracy either (especially not Israel). Hamas is a bunch of shitbags. If they came up with a scheme to simultaneously blow up a bunch of bombs in unknown, likely civilian locations in Israel, no one would be surprised and we would rightly rebuke them for the action. Why are we treating the Israeli leadership any differently? Their actions are breeding a generation of people who won't make a distinction between netanyahu and those who support him. There is some odd tacit 'well they were hit first' kind of hand waving going on. But at some point 20 years from now, when a young kid blows up something in the US because he saw his parents murdered in this attack, a lot of people will had wave that away for similar reasons. Everyone willl be wrong and there will be many dead to show for it.
Chemical weapons were outlawed because they caused severe suffering that once deployed could not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The Israeli use of devices has a similar carelessness. It should be condemned and seen as unacceptable, like Syria's recent use of chemical weapons.
I can mostly get behind that except that when push comes to shove, the countries and groups allied with or sympathetic to Hamas and Hezbollah are a threat to me and my loved ones. So with no absolute right and wrong, I'll stick to self interest.
But Israel doesn't need the aid from the US right now and is not being a good ally in the global strategic and long term situation so Biden's attempt to rein them in through behind the scenes diplomacy isn't working well.
I have no problem throwing both of them on the pile of terrorist states we don't deal with. Israel's actions are not making the world a better/safer place for any western democracy either (especially not Israel). Hamas is a bunch of shitbags. If they came up with a scheme to simultaneously blow up a bunch of bombs in unknown, likely civilian locations in Israel, no one would be surprised and we would rightly rebuke them for the action. Why are we treating the Israeli leadership any differently? Their actions are breeding a generation of people who won't make a distinction between netanyahu and those who support him. There is some odd tacit 'well they were hit first' kind of hand waving going on. But at some point 20 years from now, when a young kid blows up something in the US because he saw his parents murdered in this attack, a lot of people will had wave that away for similar reasons. Everyone willl be wrong and there will be many dead to show for it.
