by Prem Thakker at Zeteo: Amos Hochstein is one of the most influential members of Joe Biden’s foreign policy team. He has been shuttling between Tel Aviv, Beirut, and Washington, DC, for the past year, as a top diplomatic envoy for the president. He is one of the two White House officials, according to Politico, who “privately told Israel that the US would support its decision to ramp up military pressure against Hezbollah.”
He is also a former member of the Israeli military.
It’s that background that’s raised eyebrows, with some questioning whether the DC veteran can be an honest broker in a region where Israel’s ongoing escalation in Lebanon threatens to plunge the Middle East into a wider war and bring even more devastation.
“I think [Hochstein’s appointment] tells you all you need to know about US ‘mediation’ in the Middle East,” said Karim Makdisi, an international politics professor at the American University of Beirut. “From ‘Israel’s lawyer’ in Oslo to a literal IDF soldier today, it’s consistent and tells you clearly that Israel is the only real concern for US policy, and then it’s a question of using the carrot (Hochstein) or stick.”
That scrutiny has intensified over recent weeks, as “de-escalation” in the region has fallen by the wayside.
While the Biden administration publicly pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Politico reported that behind the scenes, Hochstein and other senior Biden officials, including senior Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, were telling their Israeli counterparts they agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah in order to convince the group to engage in diplomatic talks to end the conflict.”
The officials reportedly suggested caution, but they ultimately saw the moment as opportune for escalation in order to weaken Iran’s position in the region. “Hochstein, McGurk and other top U.S. national security officials are describing Israel’s Lebanon operations as a history-defining moment — one that will reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come,” Politico wrote.
Days later, Axios reported that while Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed that he wanted to move forward with a diplomatic solution, Hochstein said a proposal laid out by the US in June was “off the table.”
For his part, Hochstein has pushed back on the reporting, writing on social media: “Lots of wrong, irresponsible reporting these last few days. #US did not “green light” military operations in #Lebanon. Ultimately, only a diplomatic resolution will allow residents to return home. We continue to work [with] governments of Israel & Lebanon on [the] best path to restore calm.”
All the while, Israel continued to escalate its attacks in Lebanon with a ground invasion and continued strikes across the country, including in the capital Beirut. Any possible efforts to get a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel appear to have been sidelined. The White House readout of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ Wednesday call with Netanyahu didn’t include the word “ceasefire.”
From Israeli Soldier to Biden Confidant
Hochstein’s ascent from Israeli soldier to energy adviser to one of Biden’s most trusted advisers on the Middle East may appear to be despite his background – but some argue the rise is because of it.
Born in Israel in 1973, Hochstein served in the Israeli military as a young man, reportedly as a tank crewman.
In a 2012 interview, Hochstein’s wife said, “My husband is Israeli…” Hochstein would have been serving in the State Department at the time as the deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy.
When asked if Hochstein ever held Israeli citizenship and, if so, whether he renounced it, the State Department directed Zeteo to the White House. The White House National Security Council said that Hochstein is not a dual citizen but would not elaborate. Hochstein did not respond to a list of questions about his background and current role.
Characterized by the New York Times as a “dashing profile in his slim-fitting suits and slicked-back hair,” Hochstein began his Washington career in 1994 as a staffer for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Since then, he’s worked in both the private and public sectors in varying capacities.
That’s included lobbying for some questionable parties like Equatorial Guinea and its president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, whose government was accused of “unlawful killings by security forces; government-sanctioned kidnappings; systematic torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces,” and Marathon Oil, which sought an exemption from a US law that empowered Americans to sue foreign governments they have terrorism-related claims against (several oil giants like Marathon had inked deals under Muammar Gaddafi’s reign).
Hochstein also served on the supervisory board of Ukraine’s state-owned natural gas company Naftogaz and consulted for a UAE-based natural gas company.
He began his tenure with the State Department in 2011 under the Obama administration. At the time, he also served as a close adviser to then-Vice President Biden. Several years later, with Biden in the Oval Office, Hochstein was appointed as the top energy official at the State Department before being elevated to a senior adviser at the White House last year.
“The president has known Amos for some time, dating back to the Obama administration, and he really respects and trusts him,” a senior administration official told E&E News in 2022. “Whenever questions of energy come up, [Biden] seeks his advice.”
“He’s Biden’s favorite energy guy,” an energy industry consultant echoed.
It’s clear Biden has placed enormous trust in Hochstein. While serving as one of Biden’s main envoys to Saudi Arabia, Hochstein reportedly helped convince Biden that the US should not ostracize Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite the president vowing to make the kingdom a pariah over the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Hochstein has met with Israeli officials like Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He’s hosted the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, in his office. And despite his background of serving in the Israeli military, he even appeared to gain the trust of Lebanese officials at least before Oct. 7, mediating a historic agreement between Israel and Lebanon over their disputed maritime border.
Still, even then, his appointment for the negotiations was questioned, including by Israeli media.
“In the stormy media debates for and against the gas agreement with Lebanon, I haven’t found one ambivalent comment about putting the American brokerage between the two in the hands of an Israeli tank crewman (sorry, an American of Israeli descent),” journalist Carolina Landsmann wrote in Haaretz two years ago amid Hochstein’s negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. “I’m wondering if an American broker who had been born in Beirut and served in Hezbollah would have been received with the same comfort and ease, or been given such a light-hearted headline for his amazing story about the Hezbollah rocket launcher who migrated to the United States and became the American broker.”
Since Oct. 7 of last year, however, his role has shifted from ostensibly being focused on energy to outwardly concerned with armed conflict. That’s raised even more questions, given his past service in the military of one of the parties.
Maha Yahya, director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said that while Hochstein has a good relationship with various political actors in Lebanon, recent events may have corroded his broader credibility.
“[It] depends on who you ask,” Yahya said, “but overall, it is quite shot through, particularly after it came out that the US had green-lighted Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. There were already a lot of questions around him as a ‘neutral’ mediator, given … his participation in the IDF. These have now intensified.”
Erik Sperling, executive director of Just Foreign Policy, added, “It’s stunning that a former Israeli soldier can help broker energy deals for Netanyahu’s Israel from inside the US administration, and no one in mainstream circles bats an eye.”
He added, “One can only imagine the media reaction if a foreign-born Arab-American — who was a former militant — was even given a single meeting with our aging and vulnerable Commander in Chief.”
‘The Hochstein Doctrine’
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