Biden and the Middle East: Back to normal?
The new administration may be reassessing its priorities there. This could mean Israel and the entire region are unlikely to be at the top of America's foreign policy agenda.
CALL it phone diplomacy, like when you wait, and wait, and wait for your friend (in this case, your No 1 ally, who also happens to be the leader of the free world) to call you. Is he angry with me? Did I say something wrong? Does he have new friends? Is the affair over?
It took close to a month since his inauguration for US President Joe Biden to pick up the phone and call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ("Bibi") Netanyahu.
The Israeli PM made it clear that he wasn't happy and was sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. One of his political allies, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, tweeted a message to the new American president, listing all the countries whose leaders have received a phone call from him, adding: "Might it now be time to call the leader of #Israel, the closest ally of the #US? The PM's number is 972-2-670-5555."
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