Should the US snub Smotrich and Ben Gvir, Israel can reciprocate

Photo: AP Images

The well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported that top Biden administration officials are still mulling whether they will meet with incoming cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and if so, what ground rules they can set.

While Secretary of State Antony Blinken told J Street last week that he respects the democratic choice that the Israeli people made, that respect will evaporate once a right-wing government makes decisions that go against his grain.

Israel can play the same game.

Should the US snub Smotrich and Ben Gvir, Israel can reciprocate and shun Hady Amr, the State Department’s Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, who is still obsessed with promoting a two-state solution.

Aside from that, the Netanyahu government should insist that the administration throw its diplomatic weight around to induce more Arab and Muslim nations to join the Abraham Accords, especially Saudi Arabia.

It’s not easy for Biden to accept this one enduring legacy from the Trump administration, but it should be abundantly clear by now that the road to normalization in the Middle East, and any breakthroughs involving Jewish-Muslim reconciliation, runs through Riyadh, not Ramallah.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 940)