The cost of one phone call that did not happen: Millions of dollars. Biden’s shunning of Israel is a costly mistake

The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden has a weird, imprudent foreign policy. The US President is treating allies like foes, and foes like allies. He is embracing Washington’s biggest enemy- Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden even had a telephonic conversation with Xi. Yet, he is not ready to embrace the most important US ally- Israel. Biden is, in fact, yet to call Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

We know that Joe is slow. But this time, his sluggishness is going to prove way too costly, as Jews feel insulted over how he is snubbing the Israeli Prime Minister. There is unprecedented anger amongst Jews as they seek answers as to why Biden is publicly insulting Netanyahu. And the repercussions of Biden’s sluggishness in calling the Israeli PM can go far beyond mere geopolitics. The way Biden is treating Israel, Democrats might as well have to kiss goodbye to the powerful Jewish lobby which showers hefty funds during election campaigns.

A former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, took to Twitter and hit out at Joe Biden. Miffed at Biden’s nonchalance towards Israel, Danon tweeted, “@POTUS Joe Biden, you have called world leaders from #Canada #Mexico #UK #India #France #Germany #Japan #Australia #SouthKorea #Russia Might it now be time to call the leader of #Israel, the closest ally of the #US? The PM’s number is: 972-2-6705555.”

Clearly, Israelis have many questions to ask. They are wondering why the US President is playing with their sentiments and giving stepmotherly treatment to Israel. Biden and Democrats have their own reasons for antagonising Israel that principally emanate out of vote bank politics. But this is eventually going to cripple them.

The fact remains that the role of pro-Israel, Jewish lobby in American politics and elections is very much unparalleled. We are not even exaggerating. As per a report by The Guardian, the pro-Israel lobbyists and donors spent over $22m on lobbying and campaign contributions during the 2018 polls cycle in the US. The Jewish/ Israeli lobby also spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few decades into American politics and elections.

The thing about the Jewish lobby is that till now, it has been bipartisan. The Israel-aligned groups tend to spend equally on the two main American political parties- the Democrats and the Republicans. This is a part of their strategy to preserve the special US-Israel alliance.

Rough equity in donations and support by the Jewish lobby makes it more of a zero-sum game between the Republicans and the Democrats. So, whoever wins, wins in the American context.

Yet, the consequence of generous support from the pro-Israel, Jewish lobby is that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats can afford to antagonise Jews who continue to share a deep bond with the Jewish State of Israel. Therefore, mostly you will notice American politicians scrambling for Jewish support.

However, this is exactly where Biden has gone wrong. The 78-years old Democrat is raising eyebrows by not calling Netanyahu, which is making Israel unhappy and Jews angry. Eventually, they will be convinced that in the present era, only Trump and the Republicans are their friends and therefore, the Jewish lobby would be tilted to turn partisan and withdraw much of its support to the Democrats.

Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the US, was expected to play the role of a pro-Israel leader within the Biden administration. Harris is married to a Jew and she also claims to hold a favourable viewpoint on Israel.

As such, the US Vice President was supposed to make up for the Israel hatred that rules the roost within the Democrats nowadays with the rise of individuals like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Yet, it seems that Kamala’s inclusion in the Biden administration has not paved the way for a pro-Israel foreign policy.

Going ahead, the Jews will realise that Trump is their only friend. It is only Trump who will get things like peace deals dubbed, “Abraham Accords” brokered between Israel and Arab nations. With this, Democrats can bid goodbye to millions of dollars in support from the Jewish lobby, and this is the cost of one phone call that Biden refuses to make.