Before Joe Biden took office in Washington in January 2021, many in Israel were worried that the US under his leadership would change its attitude towards the Jewish state.
Yet, one year into his presidency, Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, says relations are not as bad as people believed they would be.
The expert believes the new US administration was relieved to see a new coalition in Israel. The previous Israeli government, under then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was too conservative to their liking, and the emergence of the new bloc has unlocked many opportunities that Washington didn't have with Bibi around.
Over the past year, the US and Israel have held a number of big exercises, the most recent being
Desert Falcon that occurred several days ago.
The two states have also registered progress on a visa waiver initiative for Israeli citizens, while Israel's security apparatus has been given a pat on the shoulder after the House passed legislation
giving the Jewish state $1 billion to replenish its Iron Dome missile defence systems.
Despite these achievements, there have also been rocky moments in the nations' ties.
One major disagreement revolves around Iran's nuclear programme. The US is currently taking part in a series of talks with Tehran aimed at restoring the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that was terminated in 2018 and that tried to supervise the Iranian atomic quest in exchange for the lifting of western sanctions.
In 2015,
Israel vehemently objected to that agreement and although the current Israeli government isn't going head-to-head with the Biden administration, the general concern in Jerusalem, says Gilboa, is that the US "is making too many concessions in their talks in Vienna".
According to reports, Israel is demanding that the
US not lift any sanctions off the Islamic Republic before there is a concrete and solid deal. It is also asking to avoid a situation, where Tehran would gain time to reach nuclear independence and it is urging the Americans to prepare a Plan B in the event those talks fail.
That Plan B is believed to be military action against Iran. Israel has repeatedly threatened it would not hesitate to use force against the Islamic Republic, but Gilboa says that the Jewish state would need equipment to be able to stick to its words.
Yet, the Iranian issue is far from being the only challenge. Another is the Palestinian question.
Since Biden took office, he has taken a number of steps to soothe the Palestinians' feelings. Although he did not move the US Embassy from Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv, he did cotemplate opening a consulate in East Jerusalem, a move that hasn't ripened yet.
The Biden administration has also committed itself to a two-state solution, it voiced its opposition to Israel's settlement activity and it
unlocked millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians, restoring a big chunk of the funds they lost in 2018.
That stance, says Gilboa, can partially be put down to the emergence of the progressives in the Democratic Party.
Where will this path lead in the long term? Gilboa says there are still many more questions than answers.