analysis
Israel’s UN official speaks of a “September 11” moment to describe the impact of the Hamas attack on Israel. The new war in the Middle East is also changing priorities in the USA – and forcing the country to reorient itself.
Hamas’ major attack on Israel also changed US policy overnight. Change number one: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer criticized by US President Joe Biden, but rather fully supported. “The United States stands with Israel in the face of these terrorist attacks,” Biden said, adding: “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people – period.”
To support Israel, the USA is moving its largest aircraft carrier as well as other warships and fighter jets to the region. The USA is also concerned with deterrence – not just Hamas, but also other Iranian-backed groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Other conflicts fade into the background
Change number two: The USA is directly affected by the outbreak of war. Apparently there are also Americans among the dead and among the Hamas hostages. What Secretary of State Antony Blinken suspected in the NBC interview has now been confirmed.
Change number three: priorities are shifting. Until recently, the main goal in US Middle East policy was to create a balance between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That is now a long way off. “It’s very possible that a motive for the attacks was to derail these normalization efforts,” Blinken said.
The war in Ukraine and the power struggle with China are also initially taking a back seat for the USA. The Middle East conflict could re-establish itself as a third major issue.
Domestic politics Conflicts threaten Capacity to act the government
Change number four leads to US domestic politics. The fact that the House of Representatives is currently unable to act because the speaker, Republican McCarthy, was overthrown by radicals from his own party seems even more absurd than before. Congress must approve additional funding for Israel. The pressure is growing on the Republicans to quickly elect a new speaker. MP Mike Lawler brings a surprising variant into play.
“It is frankly imperative that this nonsense stops, that Kevin McCarthy be reinstated as Speaker,” Lawler said on CNN. Back to McCarthy? The mood in the group is heading in this direction, claimed Lawler, who is a moderate Republican.
A prolonged Middle East war could also turn the upcoming presidential election campaign upside down. Donald Trump, recently huge in the US media, suddenly appeared quite small this weekend. But that too can change quickly.