The Biden Administration may not yet have a clear stand on its relationship with its “closest ally in the Middle East” – or if it does, the Oval Office may not have shared that information with its media folks.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki squirmed and squiggled on Friday to answer what appeared to be a relatively softball toss – but apparently, to her at least, turned out not to be.
The reporter asked: “Can you please just give us just a broad sense of what the administration is trying to achieve in the Middle East?
“For example, does the Biden administration “still consider the Saudis and the Israelis important allies?”
Pretty tame, right? The Saudis have been allies for DECADES. The US has military equipment parked there and has been helping Riyadh protect its airport from the Iranian-back Houthi terrorists. As for the Israelis, aren’t they the folks with whom America has an “unbreakable bond” ?
WOW: refuses to say that Israel is an American ally.
There is literally no excuse for this. And might explain why Biden hasn’t called Netanyahu yet. pic.twitter.com/EfMJNN9Ssh
— John Cooper (@thejcoop)
The Press Secretary had a tough time even with the easy toss, however, and did her best to duck the question.
“There are ongoing processes and internal interagency processes, one that we I think confirmed an interagency meeting last week to discuss a range of issues, uh, in the Middle East. Um, we’ve only been here three and a half weeks ah, and I think I’m gonna let those policy processes see themselves through before we give kind of a complete lay-down of what our national security approaches will be to a range of issues,” she said.
So far, President Joe Biden has already made “the call” to at least two dozen heads of state around the world, but so far has not yet seen fit to pick up the phone to say ‘hello’ to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Even though both he and Netanyahu have reassured world Jewry “the call” will take place “soon,” the lack of communication between the White House and the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem is beginning to look more than a little odd, especially when one considers the “unbreakable bond” between our two countries, and the “shared values” so often cited in politicians’ remarks.