“Congratulations, America! Congratulations, Joe Biden! And congratulations, Israel too! America chose Joe Biden, a true friend of Israel and a supporter of the two-state solution. The age of belligerence, messianism, and fantasies of annexation is over. It’s time to put an end to the frenzy of construction in the settlements and return to the negotiating table until we have peace here!” That was the response of Peace Now, right after the major US networks announced that Biden had been elected to be the next president of the United States.
Sharing in this outpouring of joy over the defeat of President Donald Trump were all the leaders of the Israeli political left, former and current politicians alike. But there was good reason that Peace Now’s response was the quickest in coming and the most effusive. As far as the movement’s supporters were concerned, it marked the end of the four-year nightmare in which Trump was in the White House. As president, he made them irrelevant, while supporting and strengthening the West Bank settlement movement and the Israeli right.
