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Washington wants to support Israel with all possible means. But the domestic political situation could make further emergency aid impossible.
Since the attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip began, US President Joe Biden has repeatedly asserted that the US stands firmly on Israel’s side. At the same time, he warned Israel’s enemies not to take advantage of the situation. “The world is watching.”
In a show of force, the United States relocated an aircraft carrier, warships and several fighter jets to the eastern Mediterranean near the Israeli coast. In addition, Israel is being supported with ammunition, among other things, the Pentagon said.
Rapprochement with Saudi Arabia failed?
However, in terms of foreign policy, Hamas’ attack on Israel is a setback for President Biden. He tried to promote a rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But such a situation has now become a long way off, says Middle East expert Shibley Telhami to the television station PBS.
Israel has declared a war that is likely to last for many weeks.
“Not least because Israel has declared war, which is likely to last for many weeks,” fears Telhami. He works in the Middle East department at the Brookings Institution think tank and is a professor of peace studies at Maryland University.
Domestically, the right wing of the Republicans is trying to exploit the situation. Politicians accuse Biden of being partly responsible for Iran’s financial support for Hamas. In mid-September, the USA unblocked six billion dollars of Iranian assets – in return, Tehran released several US prisoners. However, these funds are subject to strict conditions monitored by the US Treasury Department.
Iran is under suspicion
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that there was no evidence that Iran was behind the current attack on Israel by radical Islamists. “However, it is clear that without Iran’s support in recent years, Hamas would not be the Hamas of today.”
Without Iran’s support in recent years, Hamas would not be the Hamas it is today.
The Iranian mission to the UN, meanwhile, denied that Tehran was involved in the Hamas attack in southern Israel. Biden had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times in the past over his controversial judicial reform.
But this is now moving into the background: In a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, Biden promised to support Israel with all appropriate means.
US Congress currently unable to act
The US President is expected to want to discuss additional emergency aid for Israel. But he is faced with an unprecedented domestic political problem: After Kevin McCarthy was voted out, the House of Representatives has no official speaker and no majority leader.
Officials said the legal situation is currently being examined to determine what powers the interim speaker has. At the moment, Congress is unable to act and cannot pass aid funds. Accordingly, the election of a new speaker has become even more urgent.
Perhaps it is also a wake-up call because the divided Republicans and Democrats agree on supporting Israel. The Republicans want to meet shortly behind closed doors for a first meeting.
And there could be a vote in the House of Representatives on the election of a speaker on Wednesday at the earliest.