How Biden can secure his legacy in the Middle East
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With less than five months left in office, US President Joe Biden has enough time to secure his legacy in the Middle East by taking more assertive steps to implement his proposals to end the war in Gaza and embark on a solid path toward resolving the underlying Palestine conflict. Freed of the electoral politics of seeking another term, other presidents have in the past been able to take decisive steps in the twilight months of their time in office.
It is understandable that domestic issues will dominate his agenda, but there is likely time to also pay attention to global issues. Biden is now in a position to focus solely on policy without the distractions of a reelection campaign and its pressures to avoid making decisions on the Middle East that could alienate some segments of the electorate and donors. In a paradoxical way, this freedom has empowered the president and enabled him to take principled positions that are consistent with US interests and his own policies.
According to media reports, Biden has charged his White House staff with four “main pillars” on which to focus in the coming months in order to secure his legacy. They include student debt relief, lowering prescription drugs costs, countering hate and extremism, and a strong foreign policy agenda. His intention is to “finish the job as strong as we started it,” as White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said.
Past American presidents have used their last months in office to tackle big foreign policy issues. Given the partisan stalemate in Congress, with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, at least until Jan. 20, Biden may not have enough time to achieve much on the first three pillars. His best hope for a legacy-defining achievement is foreign policy, the fourth pillar, and the Middle East is one of most urgent issues.
Biden is now in a position to focus solely on policy without the distractions of a reelection campaign
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
On Gaza, Biden laid out his proposals on May 31, which were then adopted in UN Security Council Resolution 2735 in June. No UNSC members voted against it, with China supporting it and Russia abstaining. The three-stage peace plan has been the most realistic and likely to be agreed by all parties. It just requires some more nudging on the US part to get it done.
On the underlying Middle East conflict, President Biden laid out his position when he visited Israel and the Occupied Territories. In important remarks he gave in Bethlehem in July 2022, he said that he was among the “earliest supporters of a two-state solution” and that his “commitment to that goal of a two-state solution has not changed in all these years.” He added: “Two states along the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed-to swaps, remain the best way to achieve equal measures of security, prosperity, freedom, and democracy for the Palestinians as well as Israelis.”
Biden then said: “The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that’s independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous. Two states for two peoples … living side by side in peace and security. Both states fully respecting the equal rights of the other citizens. Both peoples enjoying equal measures of freedom and dignity. That’s what this is fundamentally all about.”
Commenting on the indignities Palestinians are subjected to in the West Bank, Biden said: “Every person has a right to be treated with dignity. It’s simply basic. I know that the goal of the two states seems so far away while indignities like restrictions on movement and travel or the daily worry of your children’s safety are real and they are immediate. The Palestinian people are hurting now. You feel — you can just feel it, your grief and frustration. In the United States, we can feel it.”
His remarks were received well in the region, although they merely reiterated the formal US positions on the Palestine question and they are not much different from the views of the rest of the world.
This administration could use the coming months to guide the Middle East in the direction of peace. If it succeeds, even partly, that success would be a lasting legacy for Biden.
This administration could use the coming months to guide the Middle East in the direction of peace
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
Former presidents have addressed the Middle East conflict during their waning days with mixed results, but always with praise for trying. In December 1992, a month before George H.W. Bush left the White House, Israel provoked a crisis by deporting 400 Palestinian leaders to Lebanon, in a clear breach of the Geneva Conventions. The US joined the international community in opposing Israel’s action and Tel Aviv finally relented and allowed the deportees to return home.
In 2000, months before Bill Clinton ended his second term, he convened the Camp David Summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between July 11 and 25, but Clinton’s efforts continued until his last days in office. Although the summit ultimately fell short of expectations, it received high praise and Clinton and others count it as part of their positive and lasting legacy. Barak still expresses his commitment to the two-state solution.
In 2016, the Obama administration allowed the passage of the path-making UNSC Resolution 2334, reaffirming that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity and constituted a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. The council reiterated its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Territories and that it fully respect all its legal obligations in that regard.
Biden could potentially be more effective in the Middle East in the remaining months of his administration than he has been at any other time during his term. Not only would he be able to leave an important personal legacy of advancing peace in the Middle East, but he would also be advancing US interests in this region, which have been weakened by the failure so far to stop the war and contain its repercussions. Equally important, Biden would be contributing significantly to regional security and world peace.
- Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation. The views expressed here are personal and do not necessarily represent the GCC. X: @abuhamad1
