- THE RESULT OF A DECADE OF DIPLOMACY. President Biden adds another feather to his legacy by getting Israel into Homeland Security Department’s Visa Waiver Program this past week, making the Jewish state the 41st country in the world to make it to the list, capping decadelong technical and political negotiations, and opposition from some groups.
- COMES AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TWO-MONTH TRIAL. Since July 20, 2023, Israel has allowed more than 100,000 U.S. citizens, including tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans, to enter Israel without a visa, according to the New York Times.
- ISRAEL EASES ENTRY CHECKS FOR GAZAN-AMERICANS. The Gaza Strip has been a trouble spot ever since the Israeli army, the IDF, withdrew from the area in 2007, honoring peace agreements with the Palestinians, only to see Hamas, a terror group with links to Iran, seize power. So, the security checks applied by Israel to international visitors to Gaza were understandable. But to meet the benchmark of America’s Visa Waiver Program, rules have been relaxed and smarter methods introduced to also meet the requirements of Israeli national security. Earlier this month, the Israeli military’s liaison to the Palestinians published new travel guidelines for U.S. citizens from the Gaza Strip who can now enter Israel for short stays and also visit the West Bank. Read more about this development here.
- GET THIS: PALESTINIANS, TOO, BENEFIT FROM ADMITTING ISRAEL INTO VISA WAIVER PROGRAM. You won’t hear this from those who lobbied to stop Israelis entering America without a visa. So, remember you read it here first: Nearly two million Palestinians, who are Israeli citizens as Arab-Israelis, have become the first Arabs and Muslims from the Middle East to get this perk, thanks to their Israeli citizenship and passports.
- WHY NOT RECOGNIZE ISRAEL’S EFFORT TO COMPLY WITH WAIVER PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS? Those are Israeli concessions that have gone unnoticed, or deliberately ignored, by critics. So, Israeli law enforcement introduces the most overwhelming changes to immigration protocols to allow Gazan-Americans a smooth entry to both Israel and Gaza, and nearly two million Arab-Israelis benefit from the latest perk of having an Israeli passport. But none of this figures in the reactions by opponents to this American decision. For example, Rep. Rashida Tlaib claimed, “The Biden Administration’s decision to admit Israel into the Visa Waiver Program explicitly condones and enables the Israeli government’s discriminatory practices towards Americans requesting entry.” And Zaha Hassan, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote arguing that “Israel is unlikely to respect U.S. visa waiver program rules.” She overlooked Israel’s announcement of new more inclusive rules for the entry of Palestinian-American tourists into Israel. A long list of opponents of this move offer weak arguments to push their case. A report by Aljazeera television network does a good job of listing the naysayers and their key arguments (click here if you’re interested in checking them out).
LANDMARK DECISION. Naysayers aside, the Biden administration’s move is historic. No wonder the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security took the rare step of issuing a joint statement titled, Joint Statement on the Designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, describing Israel’s designation as an “important recognition of our shared security interests and the close cooperation.” Both Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary Antony Blinken separately posted on X/Twitter marking the occasion [check here and here].
Israel-Saudi Deal: Can The 2-State Solution Be A Dealbreaker? Not Really. Here’s Why.
- CAN THE PALESTINIANS VETO A SAUDI-ISRAEL DEAL? By all accounts, no. Enough can be said about the obstinacy of Palestinian leadership in rejecting repeated Israeli offers for peace [for example, see Abbas admits he rejected 2008 peace offer from Olmert]. But while Palestinians can’t veto any Saudi-Israel normalization agreement, the Palestinian factor has political implications for both President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And this makes the Palestinian factor important to consider.
- ISRAELI AND SAUDI INTERESTS. Both the Saudis and Israelis understand that a normalization in their relations is more about larger Israeli and Saudi interests. Israel wants to open the door for normalization with other Arab and Muslim nations through Riyadh’s religious, economic, and political clout. And Saudis are interested in a possible civilian nuclear program, a defense pact with the U.S., and to work with Israel to counter Iran and violent extremism in the region.
- NO VETO POWER FOR THE PALESTINIANS. This proposition by Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, made at the United Nations General Assembly last week, must have made a lot of sense not only in Washington and Riyadh but also in other Arab capitals, like Cairo and Amman. Why give the Palestinians so much power over the actions of Riyadh and Jerusalem – and possibly other Arab and Muslim states in the near future, when they decide to normalize. After all, the Palestinians are good at wasting opportunities for peace and are prone to making wrong choices [like electing Hamas in Gaza in 2007].
- A WAY OUT: KEEP THE TWO-STATE-SOLUTION ALIVE. That’s what Biden and Netanyahu agreed to in a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week, according to Barak Ravid, the Israeli journalist who broke the story on Axios. The Saudi-Israel deal would be based on the idea that the Two-State Solution is alive. Details of how that will be done are being hammered out this week and the days to come. Ravid revealed that Biden’s senior aides met with Netanyahu’s team the night before and asked about the concessions that Israel is ready to give the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s aides reportedly said that the Israeli premier will privately convey those to the U.S. president when they meet.
- BLINKEN’S STATEMENT. Biden’s top diplomat made an interesting remark regarding the Palestinian part of the Saudi-Israel potential deal. Blinken spoke at Pod Save the World, on Sept. 13, 2023, and the State Department published a transcript. Pod Save the World is a weekly American foreign policy podcast hosted by former White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor and former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. Here’s what Blinken said: “Now, one very important piece to this. Normalization – any of the efforts that are going on to improve relations between Israel and its neighbors – are not, cannot be a substitute for Israel and the Palestinians resolving their differences and having a much better future for Palestinians. And in our judgment, of course, that must – needs to involve a two-state solution. So it’s also clear from what we hear from the Saudis that if this process is to move forward, the Palestinian piece is going to be very important, too.”
ISRAELI TOURISM MINISTER IN SAUDI ARABIA. It’s becoming a habit now, but this week saw another move by Saudi Arabia that shows it is serious about normalization with Israel. Haim Katz became the first Israeli minister to publicly land in Riyadh, to attend an international conference organized by the United Nations. Coincidentally, around the same time, Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to the Palestinians passed through Israel into Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The New York Times captured the coincidence in an aptly titled report, Officials’ Visits Highlight Warming Saudi-Israeli Ties.
Jack Rosen And Daniel Rosen Met World Leaders And International Partners At The United Nations General Assembly Last Week.
- JACK ROSEN AND DANIEL ROSEN joined President Biden and world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly for its 78th session last week representing the American Jewish Congress. Jack Rosen has used successive UNGA sessions to reinvigorate and sustain international partnerships with world leaders built over decades and rally support for key international development goals.
MEETINGS WITH LEADERS OF BRAZIL, UKRAINE, ISRAEL, SAUDI ARABIA, U.N. officials and diplomats. Below, we share with you some of the highlights, including pictures of meetings, starting with the latest remarks by Jack Rosen on the diplomacy behind a potential Saudi-Israel normalization agreement.
PRESS RELEASE: Jack Rosen’s Remarks About the Leadership Shown in Saudi-Israel Normalization Talks: “[N]ow is the moment to mark something equally important and worth recognizing: the determination shown by three leaders to change the course of history in an intractable conflict, in a dangerous region. What Crown Prince Mohammed and Prime Minister Netanyahu are trying to achieve comes at great cost. The difficult choices and trades they must make are profound. And for President Biden to pull off high stakes diplomacy at a time of turbulence in Washington, D.C. – while juggling responsibilities on Ukraine, Iran, and China – is a tribute to his stamina, experience, and leadership acquired over years in the grind of politics.”
- THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS MAINTAINS ROBUST ties with partners across the Middle East and had led the first delegation of American Jewish leaders to Saudi Arabia in 1992. Our efforts include leading several other initiatives in the region with partners in Israel, Turkey, Jordan, and with other countries in Asia, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, and a landmark effort for Israel-Pakistan normalization back in 2005, working closely with leaders in Washington and Ankara.
- Through direct engagement with leaders and governments, the American Jewish Congress has extended support to U.N.-led initiatives on peace, climate change, and on development goals that we all agreed to through an arduous process of global consensus-building.
- Click here and here for a look into how Jack Rosen and the American Jewish Congress leverages relationships and public diplomacy to achieve our organizational goals.
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