“Without Israel, the United States of America must create an Israel to protect her interests in the region.” This is what then-Senator Joe Biden said during a 1986 congressional debate on Middle East arms sales, expressing U.S. support for Israel. What is said when expressing a point of view.

He apparently did not see the possibility of a conflict of interest between Israel and the United States at the time. Ironically, 38 years later, his presidency has brought home the extent to which U.S. regional interests are no longer aligned with the behavior of the Israeli government.

The Biden administration has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu free rein, not just in Gaza but across the Middle East. Netanyahu is doing everything he can to maintain order in power, which means prolonging Israel’s war in Gaza and expanding Israeli aggression into Lebanon, Yemen and even Iran.

This has brought serious damage to the Middle East and directly damaged U.S. foreign policy interests in the region.

U.S. strategic interests

The Middle East is of great strategic significance to the United States. It holds vast oil and natural gas reserves that are vital to the U.S. economy and the U.S.-dominated global economy. Any disruption to oil or gas supplies in the region could have unprecedented consequences for global energy security.

This is why the United States favors relative political stability in the region, especially after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2001-2021 occupation of Afghanistan, which demonstrated how dangerous and costly military adventurism can be in the region.

Since the first Obama administration, the United States has pursued a national security strategy aimed at reducing responsibility and stabilizing the region, withdrawing resources and focusing them on China and Russia, which are seen as more pressing threats. As part of this policy, Washington has been working to integrate Israel with its Arab neighbors, establish a Middle East security arrangement similar to NATO, and strengthen economic ties through initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

The Biden administration’s national security strategy continues this policy, announcing the end of the combat mission and troop withdrawal in Iraq and continuing efforts to expand Israel’s normalization with Arab states.

But when Biden pledged unconditional support for Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, the U.S. return to the Middle East was put on hold indefinitely. Washington has been forced to increase its military presence in the region and has spent more than $22 billion Concerning military assistance to the Israeli army and its military operations in support of the Israeli army. This unconditional commitment to Israel is undermining the long-term U.S. strategy of focusing on Russia and China and providing more military aid to Taiwan, Ukraine, South Korea, and Japan.

Netanyahu first, America second

In the past 15 months, the United States has mobilized its political, diplomatic, economic and military power to support Israel. It has deployed naval ships, aircraft carriers and troops in the Mediterranean and Red Seas and conducted direct military activities in the region to help protect Israel.

On the international stage, it has provided unprecedented support to the Israeli government, attacked and defunded international institutions, undermined the United Nations, and pressured allies not to give in to public outrage over the genocide. U.S. officials have unreservedly defended Israel’s massive war on Gaza, which has killed at least 45,000 civilians, mostly children and women, displaced 1.9 million people in the Strip and damaged civilian infrastructure, schools and hospitals. destroyed.

The United States has supported Israel as it attacked and devastated Lebanon, killing more than 4,000 people, and invaded Syria, seizing more territory in the country’s south. It supports Israel’s provocations against Iran: the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. It endorses Israel’s bombing of Yemen, which has caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure and disrupted the delivery of vital humanitarian aid.

Israel’s uncontrollable aggression is driven by Netanyahu, who believes that prolonging and sustaining multiple conflicts, making Israelis feel insecure and satisfying his far-right allies will help him stay in power. As he is accused of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, remaining as prime minister is the only way he enjoys immunity from prosecution. His controversial decision-making has led to deep political divisions among different actors within Israel, creating unprecedented social divisions.

Yet Biden continues to support Netanyahu, essentially putting him first — ahead of all U.S. policy priorities in the region.

unstable areas

All of this has plunged the Middle East into turmoil that will have long-term consequences. Iran’s response to Israel’s provocation – launching two massive missile attacks on Israel – was unprecedented. It brought the region to the brink of war. Although Tehran currently seems more willing to de-escalate, there is no guarantee that a new round of conflict will not break out between the two old enemies, plunging the Middle East into a regional conflict.

Such a war would drag down multiple state and non-state actors, devastate the economies of the Gulf states, and create a policy quagmire for Washington.

Even if this could be avoided, Israel’s uncontrollable aggression would prompt regional actors to arm themselves. Militarization of the region may not be limited to conventional weapons. Back in May, Kamal Kharazi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that “if Iran’s existence is threatened, there will be no alternative but to change[Iran’s]military doctrine. “That is to say, Iran’s motivation to acquire nuclear weapons is increasing, so public support for it.

Years of international negotiations to ensure Iran’s nuclear program remained peaceful were thrown out the window as the United States backed Netanyahu’s aggression in the Middle East. It also hurts global anti-proliferation efforts, as other regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Turkey may also start to seriously consider nuclear weapons.

At the same time, global oil and gas supplies remain fragile. The Houthis continue to attack ships heading to Israel and its Red Sea allies, threatening the smooth flow of energy and other goods. Their demands for an end to the war in Gaza have not been met.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz, where the Houthi armed forces are active, are all important sea lanes, and nearly 40% of the world’s oil supply passes through them. If Netanyahu is allowed to continue escalating in the Middle East, it could lead to major disruption at these three chokepoints. The consequences would be catastrophic for the United States and the rest of the world.

In addition to the risk of regional wars and a global economic crisis triggered by soaring oil prices, Biden’s “Netanyahu first” policy is threatening the global order. To defend and protect Israel, his government ignored decisions from global political platforms such as the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice, the United Nations legal body, to halt the war in Gaza.

The United States’ status as host of the United Nations and guarantor of the international legal order and human rights has been exposed as a fallacy. Its actions are eroding the credibility of the post-World War II system it helped create and maintain and risk leading to its collapse.

In short, Biden’s insistence on unconditional support for Israel is a disaster for U.S. foreign policy. The ailing U.S. president’s blind faith in immutable alliances may well have dealt the most serious blow to U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East in years.

“There’s no need to apologize, no, this is the best $3 billion investment we’ve ever made,” Biden said in a 1986 speech. As his term draws to a close, the US president would do well to reflect on his unapologetic stance, which has cost his own people billions of dollars in potential investments in social services and destroyed years of development of a national security strategy — Support Netanyahu’s genocide.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.