After the election in the United States, President Biden officially became a “lame duck”, although he will remain in the White House for two more months.

This applies to domestic matters, where the consent of Congress is required. But it does not apply to foreign policy. Biden will retain all of his powers until January 20.

So he could act, and especially in the Middle East, where all Presidents are constrained by domestic politics.

Those restrictions no longer apply to Biden, who has no reason to align himself with Benjamin Netanyahu’s pursuits.

The United States fully supported Israel after the monstrous attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. But Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, have turned support into an outcry. And the United States is actually at war with Israel because of the latter’s total dependence on American weapons.

On October 15, the foreign and defense ministers wrote to Israel that within the next 30 days it must allow the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. So Biden will now have to tell Israel that he will either open the border to allow essential humanitarian aid to pass through or suffer the consequences. And these consequences can be nothing other than the cessation of military and political support of Israel by the US.

Then there is the issue of Iran. Netanyahu has been trying for years to drag the United States into an open conflict with the Islamic Republic so that its nuclear program is irreparably damaged. As President, Barack Obama negotiated a deal with Tehran under which Iran would curtail its nuclear program (it did) in exchange for the lifting of many US sanctions (they did). In a strange irony, Netanyahu opposed this program.

The Israeli prime minister is now hoping, and rightfully so, that Trump will give him the green light for military action against Iran, which could involve Washington.

The only way to break this vicious cycle is to revive Tehran’s deal with Obama.

Biden should try that road. He has nothing to lose.

Perhaps such a move will not work. But Biden will at least show that he did everything he could to prevent the ignition.