TEHRAN - The U.S. has been under growing criticism for its steadfast support of Israel in the face of the regime’s brutal war crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Some analysts believe the current conflict might precipitate a change in U.S.-Israel relations and also alter the future of Biden and his proteges’ political careers. To understand the situation better we spoke to Amir Ali Abol Fath, an expert on the U.S. and Canada. 

U.S. President Joe Biden has criticized Israel in an unprecedented move, saying the regime is losing global support due to its relentless attacks on Gaza’s civilians. He has also asked Netanyahu to change his cabinet members. Do you think he is looking to lead Netanyahu out of office?

American Democrats are in general opposed to the current group of Politicians holding power in Israel. They believe that West Asia can only move towards sustainable peace once Israel allows a Palestinian state to be established in the occupied territories. The current Israeli cabinet consists of religious and far-right individuals, who believe in the “greater Israel”. That means that they not only wouldn’t allow the evacuation of the West Bank and Eat Jerusalem in favor of a Palestinian state, they actually advocate for more annexation of land by the Israeli regime. Biden wants to see these people gone in order to finally settle the Palestinian dispute. But demanding a cabinet reshuffle from Netanyahu does not necessarily mean he has to exit the picture. Whether he would be able to form a new cabinet with less hawkish individuals is something he needs to worry about and not the American politicians. 

Israeli lobbies in the U.S. believe and advocate that Israel is a “special” ally for Washington. They argue that Israel is so beneficial to the U.S. that the regime should be protected no matter what. But recent developments and growing international criticism towards the U.S. has prodded many into rethinking the U.S.-Israeli relations, pointing to the fact that the regime now acts like a burden rather than an asset. Do you think U.S. support for Israel will begin to wane?

I think what should be taken into account is that the U.S. and Israel have a close ideological relationship. There are millions of hardline Christians in the U.S. that believe Israelis are the chosen people who are supposed to create a “nation” in the Palestinian land so they can facilitate the return of Jesus. These people hold significant clout in U.S. Congress and would support Israel no matter what. So, I think that while Washington may be critical of Israeli tactics in some instances, it is unlikely that the U.S. would pull the plug on Israel and cease its unflagging support for the regime. The Israeli lobby and the ideology endorsing Zionism is too powerful to vanish anytime soon. Biden and the president that came before him are Zionists in nature, and wouldn’t dream of leaving Israel no matter what the consequences of supporting the regime would be.

Do you think Biden risks losing the 2024 elections due to his unflagging support for Israel?

The issue of Israel has widened the chasm between different groups in the U.S. like many other issues. There is a group of people who believe Biden is not showing sufficient support for Israel. There is the other side of the ledger, where people believe the U.S. government should not support Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza. But the latter is not too populous, and hence would not have a meaningful effect on the results of the 2024 elections.