1. Spending Israel’s 75th Independence Day among Israelis, it’s impossible not to feel optimistic. From outside, the large challenges may dominate the picture. But up close, one feels that today is a day to celebrate all that has been built and anticipate all that is yet to come. 2. Spend time with older Israelis, or review the history of a state that struggled to feed it people in the early years, absorbed millions of immigrants from across the globe, and fought wars of literal survival, and you rub your eyes in disbelief.

Congratulation to my friend @amoshochstein, whose dogged pursuit of an Israel-Lebanon maritime agreement appears to have met with success. Still some steps until formal approval, but it's an important milestone, sought by three consecutive US administrations. 1/10 It's not easy to find a formula that two sides with conflicting interests, who don't even talk to each other, can live with. But this agreement seems to serve the core economic and security interests of both sides. 2/10

The courage of Iranian women, girls, and men protesting against the barbaric regime is awe-inspiring. It also underscores an unavoidable fact: for the Iranian people to have freedom, there is no way around regime change. 1/6 For good reasons, that can't be US policy officially. But it should not constrain us from doing our utmost to support the protesters. Strong statements of senior US officials, like @jakejsullivan's today, are correct. There should be more of them, more frequent, on camera. 2/6

1. The overarching theme of @POTUS Biden's trip to Israel & KSA is regional integration. Not something we normally associate with the usually volatile Middle East. But it reflects important trends & Biden is smart to seize the opportunities it presents to advance U.S. interests. 2. One trend is normalization. The Abraham Accords & similar pacts can produce a more peaceful & prosperous future for the peoples of the region, reflecting & encouraging changing attitudes—esp among younger Arabs— that it’s normal for Arabs & Israelis to live and work together.

1. False charges are being leveled at @ColinKahl, who has been nominated to serve as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the #3 job at the Pentagon. I won't repeat them, but they fall into the category of attacking him for alleged insufficient support for Israel's security. 2. I know something about his record in this area. I served with him when he was Dep Asst Sec of Defense for the Middle East, & later National Security Adviser for then-VP Biden. I was Senior Director for the Middle East at the NSC & then Ambassador to Israel during this period.

The US does not control who other countries' rulers are. That includes in problematic, non-democratic partner nations with whom we share some interests, like Saudi Arabia. 1/5 The Khashoggi decisions represent an effort to exact a measure of justice for the terrible murder, upholding our values and interests in standing against such crimes, while sustaining what serves US interests in the relationship, like our ability to counter common threats. 2/5

THREAD: 1. The precise timing of a Biden-Netanyahu phone call, in my view, is the ultimate non-story. But since everyone seems to be talking about it, here is my take. Bottom line up front: There's no message, no crisis, just President Biden doing the job he was elected to do. 2. In the Oval Office, Biden has prominently placed a portrait of FDR. That's because he is entering the presidency with more national emergencies and urgent priorities than any president since Roosevelt, some caused by his predecessor, others by external forces.

One more special @JoeBiden story that makes me happy he is our President-elect:

When he visited Israel in March 2016, he made time to meet with US diplomats and their families. He wanted to thank them for their service and sacrifice far from home. 1/x I introduced him to Iris, the Israeli spouse of a US diplomat, & her daughter, Annie. Iris’ husband, Vince, a former Marine, had completed a tour at our embassy in Tel Aviv, and left for an unaccompanied tour in Afghanistan. While there, he tragically died of a heart attack. 2/x

1. A thread on the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Rosh Hashana began: 2. During the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana, my daughter asked me what is the connection between Rosh Hashana and the Akeida, the story of the binding of Isaac, which we read from the Torah in the morning service.

1. Too much running and taking press calls today, not much time for tweeting. But a few thoughts on the Israel-UAE-Bahrain signing ceremony at the White House today. 2. Getting Israeli & Arab leaders to sit together as neighbors with normal relations has been a long term strategic objective of the US. May others join this trend, & may these agreements foster peace between peoples, with economic, cultural, technological cooperation & exchange.

1. Think the UAE-Israel normalization deal spells the end of efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Think again. It certainly need not, as @davidmakovsky and I explain in our piece in @washingtonpost:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… 2. Some Palestinians feel despondent, betrayed by the UAE, & worry other Arab states will follow the abandonment of the Arab Peace Initiative's sequence: first 2 states, then normalization. Some Israelis sound triumphalist, as if they've rendered the Palestinian issue irrelevant.

1. It has been a long-term, bipartisan goal to pursue normalization between Israel and Arab states. The UAE-Israel announcement is good news, and breaks an important barrier. Everyone should welcome it. 2. Additional good news will be if the announcement buries any chance of unilateral annexation in the West Bank. That's still not clear, but is critically important.

1. Tonight, the Democratic Platform Committee completed its work on the 2020 platform. It was a great honor to serve on the committee and help assemble an outstanding platform that conveys what Democrats stand for & what we will do. I worked especially on Middle East provisions. 2. The section on Israel/Palestine always gets a lot of attention. And what emerged is a platform that sounds like @JoeBiden: committed to Israel's security and legitimacy; to US military assistance; to a two-state solution including Palestinians' right to a state;...

1. With all due respect to @PeterBeinart, calling for one state for Israelis and Palestinians is neither original, nor a remotely viable solution to this long-running conflict. It's a disaster in the making for Israelis, the Jewish people, Palestinians, and US interests. 2. His proposal means the elimination of the very purpose of Zionism: the sovereignty in their homeland that the Jewish people deserve and history proved repeatedly they suffered grievously without. It would be an immense historical tragedy.

1. This is kind of nutty, although undoubtedly, they are seriously considering releasing the plan.
axios.com/trump-israel-p… 2. That's obvious from these reports, and the recent remarks of King Abdullah of Jordan, starting to accommodate (saying he'd try to see the full half of the glass) and Benny Gantz after he met Avi Berkowitz, warning against US interference in the Israeli elections.

1. During this moment of protests in Iran following the Soleimani assassination, we might have conflicting emotions and reactions to these events. But we shouldn't get confused. We can revile Soleimani and the Iranian regime, oppose Trump, and support the great people of Iran. 2. As Americans, we have overriding responsibility for our government and the actions taken in our name. Personally, I'm glad Soleimani is dead. He had so much blood, including that of Americans, on his hands, he had more than earned it.

1. What appears to be the tragic, and at best deeply negligent, shootdown of a civilian airliner by Iranian air defense forces, recalls the chilling summer of 2014, when concerns for civilian airline safety in two countries converged. 2. As US Ambassador to Israel, I was consumed that summer with the conflict between Israel & Hamas, including US support for both ceasefire negotiations and Israeli efforts to defend against thousands of rockets launched from Gaza, which also threatened US embassy personnel.

1. Qassim Soleimani had the blood of many thousands on his hands: Americans, Iraqis, Lebanese, Syrians, Israelis & many, many others. Truly one of the most evil men on the planet. Seeing his smiling mug in selfies with terrorists across the region was hard to take. Good riddance. 2. That he deserved this fate, a fate he authored for so many others, is not in question. The ability to carry it out is also impressive, as an intelligence and operational achievement.

1. Pres Trump is giving a speech to the Israeli American Council tomorrow. Plenty of rumors about what he'll say, including the possibility he'll give a green light to Israeli unilateral annexation of the Jordan Valley. That's a bad idea: for the US, Israel, and our relationship. 2. Why? There is no outcome that resolves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than a two-state solution. Every other outcome is no solution, and would instead perpetuate the conflict in some form.

1. Much discussion at J Street and among Democratic presidential candidates about US assistance to Israel. Some basic facts, and some thoughts in this thread: 2. The US has provided Israel with military assistance for decades, based on a bipartisan belief in the importance of ensuring Israel's ability to defend itself against a wide range of threats. It reflects both a moral commitment between allies and a shared strategic interest.

1. Trying to imagine the conversation between Netanyahu and Pompeo tomorrow:

N: Mike, I'm confused by President Trump's decision to pull out of N Syria and by some of his statements. As you know, Israel has condemned Erdogan's invasion and voiced our support for the Kurds. 2. P: Mr. Prime Minister, we see the situation in very similar terms. I was just in Ankara with Vice President Pence to deliver the message that the Turks must pull back.

N: And how did Erdogan take it?