U.S.-Israel Relations

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich said on the eve of Hanukkah that “only together can we, as one nation, spread light throughout the world.”

The project aims to help global Jewry celebrate its diversity and act upon its shared values by working together to build a brighter future for the Jewish people and all humanity.

The American proclamation on the Israeli capital will be displayed in Israel’s Cabinet room alongside President Harry S. Truman’s 1948 proclamation recognizing the newly established State of Israel.

“Sympathizers in the Democratic Party are trying to convince the Palestinians to make changes in the law so salaries will be based on economic conditions and not just on terrorism,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior intelligence and security expert at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

While Middle East analysts say Biden is building a team of people in whom he trusts, can rely on and can work together as a team, a good deal of concern centers on whether U.S. foreign policy will look too much like it did during the Obama administration.

One of the bottom-line conclusions is that being “pro-Israel” is not a yes-or-no answer, “and because of that, we need to pay attention to this issue and the conditional aspect of voters being pro- or not pro-Israel,” said Jerusalem Center Fellow Irwin Mansdorf.

Following reports that Israel was behind the assassination in Tehran of the Al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, families of the slain say “todah raba.”

With Israeli elections looming and a U.S. administration in transition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from settlement leaders to get as much done as possible while Trump is still in office.

Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, states it is safe to assume that the incoming president’s initial energies will be internally focused due to the coronavirus and the economy. In addressing the Mideast, the priority is likely to focus on Iran and the nuclear deal, followed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Such a sale would require U.S. congressional approval, but not before passing and enacting legislation to overturn a 1998 law that prohibits the United States from exporting the F-22.

While the election results still remain unclear, observers have questioned whether a potential Biden administration could treat Israel with some level of hostility that was especially seen during the last few months of the Obama administration.

“We’ve done more for the cause of peace within this region than any administration in the history of the United States. And, I think those opposing us just are not seeing the situation clearly,” America’s envoy to the Jewish state tells JNS in a wide-ranging interview.