Biden’s Late Awakening to Mideast Realities Could Make His Trip Consequential

While President Biden during his trip to Israel today is launching a drive to bring America’s Mideast allies closer together, anticipation is already growing over what will happen next week when an opposing bloc featuring the presidents of Russia, Iran, and Turkey convenes at Tehran.Belatedly, Mr. Biden seems to be shedding his initial Mideast instincts. Those included the notions that Iran — where “death to America” is a regime-favored chant — must be engaged diplomatically while reliable allies such as “pariah” Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser degree Israel, should be kept at bay.During his current trip the president will take a new tack, trying to expand on President Trump’s Abraham Accords. He will attempt to deepen and widen a regional pro-American alliance. While no one expects Saudi Arabia and Israel to establish formal ties this week, Mr. Biden is said to plan a framework of cooperation between American allies, centering on aerial defenses. Barring some unforeseen faux pas, such an alliance could become an achievement that will be remembered long after the traditional paeans and slights that such trips entail fade. In the process, Mr. Biden may be able to leave behind his ill-conceived attempt to shun Riyadh. After landing at Ben Gurion airport today, Mr. Biden was accompanied by Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, who showed his guest the latest Israeli military development, dubbed Iron Beam. The laser-based system represents a revolution in aerial defenses in that it could significantly lower the costs of intercepting enemy missiles, rockets, and drones. Israel is seeking American help in financing Iron Beam, a system projected to become operational in two years. It would be a good investment for America. The Saudis, meanwhile, are already asking Israel to sell them air defenses, and Mr. Biden’s efforts to create an umbrella group of like-minded regional allies will help in that endeavor. The regional group Mr. Biden is finally blessing cares little about the Palestinians, and the president is showing his age as he persists in bringing them to the fore. At the top of the region’s agenda is how to confront Iran’s aggression. Meanwhile, President Putin, whose top goal is having Russia replace America as the world’s leading power, is increasingly signaling Moscow’s intention to lead an opposing bloc of regional powers. Iran has long made clear who its “resistance” proxies oppose: the Big and Little Satans. The Kremlin yesterday announced that during his Tehran trip Mr. Putin will discuss the war in Syria with the Turkish and Iranian presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ebrahim Raisi, known as the Astana Group. Tehran officials add that the summit will advance economic cooperation between Iran and Russia, two countries under heavy Western sanctions. On the heels of the White House disclosure that Moscow plans to buy “hundreds” of military-level drones from Iran, the summit mostly demonstrates that a line in the Mideast sands is being drawn: America and its allies on one side, Russia, Iran, and its regional proxies on the other. NATO-member Turkey is the odd man out in this configuration. Ankara’s neo-Ottoman ruler, Mr. Erdogan, aims to play all sides against the middle. “The Ottoman Empire survived for decades because it kept a balance between east and west,” a New York-based reporter for the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Razi Chanikligil, tells the Sun. Yet, he adds, the empire derived much of its power from usurping its subjects’ resources. Currently, on the other hand, Turkey depends on Russia and Iran for its oil, which explains Mr. Erdogan’s Tehran trip. “Turkey is not choosing sides, it’s still with the West,” Mr. Chanikligil says. Yet, he adds, Mr. Erdogan is playing a dangerous game that may push Turkey into a “lose-lose position.” While Ankara attempts a thaw with Jerusalem even as it confers with Tehran, the Rus-Iranian alliance is less ambiguous. Iran “can teach Russia about the ins and outs of sanction-busting, something the Islamic Republic excels in,” an Iran watcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Behnam Ben Taleblu, says. As Mr. Biden tours the Mideast, he adds, Mr. Putin “is sure to have Ukraine in mind” when he adds Iranian drones to his military arsenal. America “needs to get used to seeing adversaries draw closer together — be it Sino-Iranian or Russo-Iranian cooperation,” Mr. Ben Taleblu tells the Sun. Officially, Mr. Biden still clings to the goal of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Tehran, however, increasingly looks like it is trying its best to demonstrate to him the futility of that path. Similarly, Ramallah seems adamant about making the president realize that his push for a “two-state solution” is not currently viable. Instead of dreaming of diplomatic breakthroughs, Mr. Biden seems to be slowly awakening to realities, realizing that visible lines are drawn between Mideast allies and enemies. If he manages to cling to that newfound insight, his trip will yield positive results, and may even be remembered as consequential.

Biden’s Late Awakening to Mideast Realities Could Make His Trip Consequential

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