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Traveling to Israel Has Forced Biden to Confront the Iranian Nuclear Issue

(National Review) Elliott Abrams - As president, Joe Biden had only once, offhandedly, said Iran would not be permitted to get a nuclear weapon "on my watch." In last week's "Jerusalem Declaration," Biden said something specific: "The United States stresses [its] commitment never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome." Previously, the administration had spoken of using only diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran, so "all elements of national power" is a more substantial threat. Traveling to Israel has forced Joe Biden to confront the Iranian nuclear weapons issue as he had never done before. Moreover, Biden's repetition of pledges to Israel that previous presidents have made is consequential because it is 2022, and the Democratic Party is drifting into an anti-Israel position. Biden's adherence to the support for Israel that used to characterize Democrats is a valuable antidote to recent trends. The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2022-07-18 00:00:00
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