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OCTOBER 29, FEBRUARY 18,2015 2021||The TheJewish JewishHome Home
Biden’s Middle East Strategy BY SHAMMAI SISKIND
In
early January, workers at the port of Ashdod carefully loaded a container of green trucks and radar systems to be delivered to their overseas destination. The buyer of this advanced military hardware was none other than the U.S. Army, which had purchased several batteries of Israel’s Iron Dome system back in the summer of 2019.
The January shipment was, in fact, the second such delivery after the Americans received their first full battery set from Israel back in September. Between the first and second delivery of these systems, drastic changes took place in the United States. A new president was elected, political violence and polarization escalated to dizzying heights, and a very differ-
ent foreign policy agenda was set in motion. By all accounts, in Washington today, there is a very strong sense of “in with the new, out with the old,” as the fresh administration sets about overturning much of what the previous one put into place. But in some very important ways, the Iron Domes that sailed into American military ports
embody the bits that have stayed the same – despite expectations to the contrary. As a candidate, Joe Biden made some very substantial commitments with regards to America’s activities abroad. His first few weeks as president were spent putting many of these commitments into action. Many – but not all.
