cover of episode How Biden’s Middle East Policy Fell Apart

How Biden’s Middle East Policy Fell Apart

2024/10/8
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The Ezra Klein Show

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Ezra Klein
一位深受欢迎的美国记者、政治分析师和《纽约时报》专栏作家,通过其《The Ezra Klein Show》podcast 探讨各种社会和政治问题。
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Franklin Foer
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Ezra Klein:哈马斯袭击的目的是重新关注巴勒斯坦人民的苦难和斗争,并使以色列看起来脆弱易受攻击。哈马斯希望通过袭击以色列,引发大规模入侵加沙,最终导致以色列被国际社会视为类似于种族隔离的南非一样的失败国家。以色列与沙特阿拉伯的潜在和平协议破裂,加沙的入侵导致了大量巴勒斯坦人的死亡和流离失所,加沙遭到严重破坏。以色列对加沙的占领没有明确的退出计划,这使得局势更加复杂。美国在中东冲突中未能实现其目标,包括避免地区战争、营救人质、促成和平进程以及保护巴勒斯坦平民。美国未能影响中东各国的政策,在中东冲突中失败。 Franklin Foer:美国试图阻止沙特阿拉伯与中国结盟,并将其纳入美国的势力范围。沙特王储萨勒曼渴望与以色列实现关系正常化,因为他更倾向于与美国建立军事和经济联盟。沙特阿拉伯与以色列关系正常化是沙特与美国建立防务联盟的关键。在哈马斯袭击前几小时,美国和沙特正在敲定巴勒斯坦国的蓝图。拜登总统希望通过促成两国方案来维护以色列的民主。作者质疑内塔尼亚胡是否真的愿意为了和平协议而放弃其联盟中的极右翼势力。内塔尼亚胡曾私下告诉拜登,他愿意为了与沙特和美国的防务联盟而放弃其联盟中的极右翼势力。许多人认为,这项协议的目的是将巴勒斯坦问题边缘化,沙特和以色列都渴望建立双边关系,而巴勒斯坦国只是为了让这项协议更容易被接受。10月7日,白宫官员对哈马斯的袭击感到震惊,并立即与以色列方面取得联系。拜登总统在获悉袭击事件后感到震惊。内塔尼亚胡要求美国支持以色列的严厉回应。即使在最初的团结时刻,美国官员也预感到未来几个月将会出现不祥之兆。真主党领导人纳斯鲁拉对哈马斯的袭击感到高兴,但也因事先没有得到通知而感到恼火。真主党是一个复杂的组织,它既是军队、宗教组织,又是准政府组织,同时也是伊朗的代理人。伊朗通过秘密渠道向美国表示,反对真主党参战,并试图缓和紧张局势。伊朗虽然希望摧毁以色列,但在某些情况下试图避免冲突升级。在哈马斯袭击后几天,美国和伊朗通过秘密渠道沟通,试图避免冲突升级。在哈马斯袭击后四天,以色列差点对真主党发动先发制人袭击,但由于伊朗的信号和情报的缺失,袭击被避免了。美国将航母战斗群部署到该地区,以威慑伊朗和真主党。美国警告以色列,如果以色列对真主党发动先发制人袭击,美国将不会支持以色列。美国政府的目标是支持以色列,避免地区战争,释放人质,并为巴以双方创造一个持久的和平解决方案。人们开始质疑这场战争将如何结束,以及以色列是否会重新占领加沙。美国政府寻求短期胜利,并希望最终恢复与沙特阿拉伯的关系正常化,并重建加沙。美国政府希望以色列采取有限的军事行动,但以色列拒绝了。以色列向美国表示,计划在八周内结束对加沙的军事行动。拜登总统直接指示内塔尼亚胡不要发动大规模地面入侵,但以色列仍然进行了入侵。以色列对加沙的入侵计划缺乏周全,没有考虑到如何应对走私隧道的问题。美国政府对以色列能够迅速结束战争并转向和平进程抱有乐观态度,这是一种天真的愿望。以色列的战争目标在几个月内逐步扩大。美国政府对以色列在战争中造成的平民伤亡感到担忧,但未能有效解决人道主义援助问题。美国向以色列提供武器,同时呼吁以色列允许人道主义援助进入加沙,这被许多人视为不一致。作者质疑如果美国停止对以色列的军事援助,以色列的政策是否会发生改变。美国政府没有准备好将与以色列的关系推向极限,以迫使其改变政策。美国政府未能有效利用其对以色列的杠杆作用,并且反复将内塔尼亚胡视为善意行为者。以色列入侵拉法后,美国没有采取任何行动,这表明美国的警告是空洞的。美国政府认为,以色列改变了其入侵拉法的计划,减少了平民伤亡。作者认为,美国对以色列的影响力被夸大了,即使美国切断对以色列的军事援助,以色列也可能仍然会入侵加沙。美国政府未能阻止以色列破坏巴勒斯坦权力机构。美国对以色列的政策实际上是一张空白支票,未能实现其在巴以冲突中的目标。美国政府在中东政策上失败了,未能实现其目标。拜登总统公开支持一项停火协议,但该协议最终失败了,因为内塔尼亚胡提出了新的要求。美国政府在停火谈判中没有施加足够的压力。内塔尼亚胡破坏了停火谈判。人质的死亡导致停火谈判破裂。作者认为内塔尼亚胡并不想达成停火协议,因为他不想让哈马斯获得政治胜利。内塔尼亚胡的目标是摧毁哈马斯,而不是与哈马斯达成政治协议。以色列和美国都没有对战后计划达成一致。美国政府提出的战后计划被以色列拒绝。阿拉伯国家参与了战后计划的制定,但其承诺的可行性存疑。战争扩大到黎巴嫩,美国全力支持以色列。以色列对加沙和黎巴嫩的占领可能会持续很长时间,而美国未能阻止这种情况发生。由于加沙停火谈判失败,黎巴嫩的冲突升级。美国低估了以色列的军事实力。如果以色列袭击伊朗的核设施,美国是否会划定红线?美国政府对以色列可能袭击伊朗核设施的反应存在矛盾。美国和以色列对以色列安全的看法存在分歧。以色列认为,重建威慑力是确保其安全的关键。布林肯国务卿警告以色列,其在战争中的行为可能会对其国际形象造成损害。

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Chapters
On October 6, 2023, the Biden administration was on the verge of a major Middle East agreement. Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in return for a Palestinian state. This deal was driven by U.S. concerns about Saudi Arabia aligning with China, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's desire for a defense pact with the U.S.
  • The potential deal involved Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state.
  • This was driven by concerns about Saudi Arabia's growing relationship with China and the crown prince's desire for a defense pact with the U.S.
  • Netanyahu privately expressed willingness to abandon his far-right coalition partners to secure the deal, but its viability was questioned given his past stances and political realities.

Shownotes Transcript

On Oct. 6 of last year, the Biden administration was hammering out a grand Middle East bargain in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state. And even after Hamas’s attack the following day, the U.S. hoped to keep that deal alive to preserve the conditions for some kind of durable peace. 

But that deal is now basically unviable. The war is expanding. Israel may be on the verge of occupying Gaza indefinitely and possibly southern Lebanon, too. So why was President Biden ineffective at achieving his goals? In the past year, has the U.S. been able to shape this conflict at all?

Franklin Foer recently wrote a piece in The Atlantic) trying to answer these questions. And he starts with the Biden administration’s attempts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East — an effort that began well before Oct. 7. In this conversation, Foer walks through his reporting inside the diplomatic bubble of the conflict and the administrations of other Middle Eastern states that have serious stakes in Israel’s war in Gaza.

Book Recommendations:

Our Man) by George Packer

Sea Under) by David Grossman

Collected Poems) by Rita Dove

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You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast). Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs).

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair . Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Efim Shapiro, Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu, Elias Isquith and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Emma Ashford, Shira Efron, Natasha Hall, Richard Haass, Michael Koplow, Selcuk Karaoglan and Switch and Board Podcast Studio.

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