Having served as Israel’s ambassador to the UN from 1997 to 1999 and, among numerous other positions, as director general of the Israeli foreign ministry in 2015 and 2016, Dore Gold has had a front-row seat at many of his country’s major foreign-policy decisions. These include include its successful diplomatic outreach to Africa, Asia, and, most surprising and most gratifying, the Arab world. In conversation with Walter Russell Mead, he discusses what made the last-named initiative possible and speaks as well about the Iranian threat, the threats in the U.S. to continued bipartisan support for the Jewish state, relations between Israel and the Jewish diaspora, and how Israeli diplomacy can embody Jewish values. (Video, 52 minutes.)

Yesterday I saw an unconfirmed report that the Biden administration has offered Israel a massive arms deal in exchange for a promise not to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Even if the report is incorrect, there is plenty of other evidence that the White House has been trying to dissuade Jerusalem from mounting such an attack. The thinking behind this pressure is hard to fathom, as there is little Israel could do that would better serve American interests in the Middle East than putting some distance between the ayatollahs and nuclear weapons. Aaron MacLean explains why this is so, in the context of a broader discussion of strategic priorities in the Middle East and elsewhere:

If the Iran issue were satisfactorily adjusted in the direction of the American interest, the question of Israel’s security would become more manageable overnight. If a network of American partners enjoyed security against state predation, the proactive suppression of militarily less serious threats like Islamic State would be more easily organized—and indeed, such partners would be less vulnerable to the manipulation of powers external to the region.

[The Biden administration’s] commitment to escalation avoidance has had the odd effect of making the security situation in the region look a great deal as it would if America had actually withdrawn [from the Middle East].

Alternatively, we could project competence by effectively backing our Middle East partners in their competitions against their enemies, who are also our enemies, by ensuring a favorable overall balance of power in the region by means of our partnership network, and by preventing Iran from achieving nuclear status—even if it courts escalation with Iran in the shorter run.