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At the beginning of his tenure, US President Joe Biden put forward his foreign policy vision: to restore America’s respected leadership on the world stage; take immediate steps to renew the American alliance; and strengthen the democratic alliance. The Achilles heel of this optimistic plan and its credibility is the anachronistic relationship between Washington and the State of Israel.
This special relationship is a vestige of the Cold War, when the United States unconditionally supported its allies military and politically, even if it involved military governments and dictatorships that severely violated human rights. Therefore, there is a country in Israel that grants its Jewish majority political and economic privileges, while in the West Bank there is an Israeli military dictatorship that operates in the same way as colonialist regimes, most of which were in the last century.
Recently, two highly acclaimed organizations, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem, accused the Israeli state of committing apartheid crimes against Palestinians. However, this did not lead to a change in Washington’s policy.
For decades, whether in the occupied Palestinian territories or in Israel, the United States has maintained a situation of total impunity against successive Israeli governments. It provides unconditional support to Israel in the UN Security Council and provides annual military assistance. Israel is the largest foreign aid recipient of the United States and has received approximately US$146 billion in aid since its establishment in 1948.
Although the United States often condemns violations of human rights and the deterioration of democratic values and systems around the world, it has hardly criticized the shocking state affairs of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The United States has strongly condemned and even taken action against the bombing of civilians by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, but has nothing to do with Israel’s air strikes on residential areas in Gaza and the demolition of Palestinian houses in occupied East Jerusalem. mention. Western Bank. The United States also publicly opposed the wounding and killing of protesters in Myanmar and the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya, but it wounded and killed protesters in the West Bank and Gaza and forcibly expelled the Palestinians from the occupied east by the Israeli army. The homeland remained silent. Jerusalem, Jordan Valley and Khan Ahmar.
Even if former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned racism against the Palestinian population and Jewish supremacy into a declared policy, Washington remained silent.
Under his leadership, the Knesset passed a nation-state law, declaring Israel to be a Jewish nation-state only, and supporters of ethnic cleansing and hate crimes against Palestinians gained power. Not only did he weaken state institutions and undermine the independence of the Knesset, security agencies, and judiciary, but he himself was also involved in various corruption schemes. Nevertheless, Washington continues to welcome Netanyahu to join the “Democratic Leaders Club.”
The new Israeli government ended Netanyahu’s 13-year rule, providing an important opportunity for the restart of US-Israel relations. In order to balance the dynamics between the two countries, many changes must be made, but the US government can take some immediate steps to begin this process.
First, the Biden administration should listen to the appeals of Palestinian, Israeli, and American activists and provide American financial assistance on the condition of Israel’s commitment to uphold human rights and international law. If it continues to violate the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the flow of US aid should stop immediately.
Second, the Biden government should demand that the Israeli government stop illegally expelling hundreds of Palestinian residents from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
Third, the Biden government should request the Israeli government to abolish the nation-state law, which puts a legal cloak on the illegal discrimination against Palestinian citizens in Israel.
Fourth, the Biden government should request the Israeli government to abolish military order No. 101 passed in 1967, which prohibits any protests in the occupied West Bank without the permission of the Israeli military. Over permission. Awarded to Palestinians who have been occupied for 54 years. The Palestinians should have the opportunity to freely and unrestrictedly stage non-violent protests against the occupation and Israeli military dictatorship.
It should be emphasized that these are not special measures. In fact, U.S. laws, such as the Foreign Aid Act of 1961 and other laws, stipulate that foreign aid is a country’s fulfillment of its human rights and international law commitments. The United States has repeatedly imposed conditions on foreign aid, and there is no reason for Israel not to do so.
By taking these measures, the United States will end the double standards policy, which gives the State of Israel privileges higher than all other countries that have close relations with the United States. So far, Biden and his team should know that letting the Israeli state and army get away with impunity will not help the people living in Israel. It will only contribute to the endless cycle of violence suffered by Palestinians and Israelis.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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