On May 31st, 2021, we welcomed Mr. Yaron Gamburg, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Permanent Delegation of Israel to International Organizations. The main topic was: “U.S. and Israeli Relations: Challenges and Threats in the Middle East.” To tackle the subject, Mr.Gamburg treated four themes.
1) The Abraham Accords; 2) The New Biden Middle East Foreign Policy; 3) The Ongoing Iranian threat and influence; 4) Current hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Our guest started the conference by reminding us that the United States and Israel have a strong relation and strategic alliance for 50 years, a strategic alliance and that they share the same values.
1) With respect to the Abraham Accords signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, on one hand, and between Israel and Bahrein, on the other hand, on September 15th, 2020 at the White House with President Trump, Yaron Gamburg insisted on the historic dimension of these Accords and that Israel and some Gulf States see the light in terms of warming economic, political and diplomatic relations, and the prospects for.
2) In regard to the Biden Administration, our guest highlights two main aspects: firstly, Joe Biden has 48 years of experience in American politics and secondly, he knows the region, has another view on Iran, supports multilateralism and wants to improve the 2015 Nuclear Accord. According to Mr.Gamburg, Joe Biden is a friend of Israel, but, unlike President Trump, It appears his own party criticizes his Middle East policy, that radical left wing chose a controversial stance on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict that Joe Biden must manage internally. Despite this friction in the Democratic Party, Joe Biden supports Israel’s right to defend itself amid the recent violence.
3) On the Iranian issue, Yaron Gamburg was very clear: we heard a lot about Hamas, but what we have to know is that in reality, Iran is the ruler of Gaza, Hamas is just being used by Iran in the recent hostilities. Focusing on Iran was the opportunity for our guest to set the record clear on the 2015 Vienne Accord. He considers it to be a “bad accord” and added that in Israel, everyone throughout the political spectrum is unanimous on this issue.
4) The current hostilities occur between Hamas and Israel in a specific context. Hamas is not comfortable with the idea that the Arab Israelis are increasingly assimilated and flourishing politically, socially, financially, professionally, and economically in the Israeli society, due to Benjamin Netanyahu’s strong pro-Israeli Arab policies. Hamas and Iran try to disrupt these positive trends.
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Republicans Overseas France expresses its special thanks to Mr. Gamburg and will continue to fight for a free and open debate.