There are a lot of moving parts in the Middle East, and in this week’s
edition of the Action Update, we focus on three storylines that, while
ostensibly independent of one another, ultimately are all
interconnected: Ramadan, Syria’s Middle East charm offensive, and
U.S.-Israel cooperation.

**Reducing Tension**

** **

As we discussed previously, Ramadan is often a time of increased
tension, sensitivity, and even violence in the Middle East. The recipe
for a potential conflagration is not complicated. Basically, there is a
religious extremist component to Palestinian terrorism. During the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, people attend mosque more frequently,
which is not, in and of itself, a bad thing.  However, those Muslim
leaders with extremist tendencies ramp up their rhetoric during this
time. Mix that with the larger crowds at the Mosque and you have an
often-deadly formula.

Israel knows this all too well. But the Jewish state’s spirit always
bends towards peace. Though they fight when there’s no other choice,
Jerusalem is always seeking to avoid conflict. As such, it should come
as little surprise that Israel is seeking to ease tensions and minimize
friction. One of the ways in which they are doing so is by opening the
Allenby Bridge 24 hours a day, except during the Jewish Sabbath.

The Allenby Bridge is the border crossing between Jordan and Judea and
Samaria. By making such a crossing easier, Israel is enabling more
Palestinians – who make up the majority of Jordanian citizens – to
visit their families in the West Bank and vice versa. Hopefully the
Palestinians will choose to spend Ramadan with their loved ones rather
than making war.

** **

**Disengagement Leading to Realignment**

** **

Regular – or, frankly, even casual – readers of the Action Update
know that one of our central qualms with the Biden administration’s
foreign policy is its disengagement from longstanding U.S. allies in the
Middle East. In Syria, Washington seems to have taken this a step
further by ignoring nearly anything and everything going on there. In
fact, a recent opinion column in the

**Washington Post** ran with the following headline, “The Biden
administration barely pretends to care about Syria anymore.”

The author of the piece, a generally well-respected center-left writer
named Josh Rogin, notes, “The administration has abdicated diplomatic
leadership to Moscow and is turning a blind eye as Gulf states welcome
the Assad regime back into the diplomatic fold.”

Rogin is right. Syria’s butcher/President met recently with leaders of
Oman, the UAE and Russia. In addition, Syria’s Foreign Minister met
with his counterpart in Egypt. This all comes just as Saudi Arabia
renewed diplomatic relations with Iran – a close ally of Syria and
Russia.

American disengagement in the region and disregard for our traditional
allies’ concerns has clearly caused America’s Arab allies to believe
that they must at least hedge their bets in the region. This is the
first step in a realignment of the region. If we get to the point where
Russia and China have effectively maneuvered themselves to unite
moderate and extremist regimes, as well as Shia and Sunni regimes, the
West’s only foothold in the region will be Israel. This will, in turn,
have a highly negative and strategically significant impact on
Israel’s ability to protect itself, as well as serve as freedom’s
outpost in the Middle East. The bottom line: President Biden needs to do
better.

**Shoulder-to-Shoulder**

Despite the administration’s rather inept approach to the region,
Congress is seeking to advance bipartisan steps to enhance the
U.S.-Israel relationship in a mutually beneficial manner. There are two
recently introduced bills worth mentioning in this context.

First, the

**United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act**was recently introduced by
Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Doug Lamborn
(R-CO), Jason Crow (D-CO), Michael Turner (R-OH), and Pat Ryan (D-NY).
According to Rep. Wilson’s office, this legislation, “would
establish a $50 million fund for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028
to further support defense collaboration between the two countries in
the area of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence,
automation, cybersecurity, and directed energy.”

In addition, Representatives Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Pat Ryan (D-NY)
introduced

**the United States-Israel PTSD Collaborative Research Act** in the
House of Representatives with companion legislation introduced in the
upper chamber by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). According to the bill’s
authors the bill would “leverage research assets and experiences of
the U.S. and Israel to develop best practices in the research,
diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD. The legislation also establishes a
grant program for American universities and private non-profits teaming
up with Israeli counterparts to research PTSD.”

The United States should be proactive in addressing the military
challenges of tomorrow while simultaneously ensuring that we are taking
care of our warfighters when they come home. As such, we wholeheartedly
support both bills.

Given the Biden administration’s missteps in the Middle East, we will
be focusing most of our efforts on Congress. It’s not too late for the
President to reverse course, but we’ll not be holding our breath.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team <https:[link removed]>

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