U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have been applying significant pressure on Israel, especially in April and May. They have been calling for an Israeli cease fire and hostage deal with Hamas.
Moreover, Blinken has been working on continuing the U.S.-backed Israel-Saudi normalization agreement with the Saudis and preparing for two-state talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Furthermore, the Biden administration has held up the delivery of precision equipment and ammunition to Israel (JNS).
While the U.S. effort was happening in Israel, the U.S. experienced the second-largest April tornado outbreak in history with 300 tornadoes. There were 929 severe weather events in the United States from April 2 to May 2, 2024.
There were 757 tornadoes in April 2011. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice had stated publicly at the U.N. that February that the United States rejected the legitimacy of Israel communities in Judea and Samaria.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had previously said on ABC that these Israeli communities were illegitimate and called for a two-state plan―and hosted the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Washington, D.C., April 12, 2011, which once again called for a two-state solution in Israel. She said, “Neither Israel’s future as a Jewish democratic state, nor the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians can be secured without a negotiated two state solution.”
Rice and Clinton’s illegitimacy claims set the stage and became the mantra for the Obama administration. National Security Advisor Tommy Vietor said on April 4, “Not only are continued Israeli communities illegitimate; they run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations” (Eye to Eye, 290–92).
On May 1–2, 2024, while Blinken was in Israel, the Houston area (The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar LandMSA covers 9,444 square miles, larger than New Jersey) experienced massive rains and subsequent floods, the largest floods since August 2017 and June 2001.
In late August 2017 Hurricane Harvey developed quickly out of a remnant of a storm while Jared Kushner was meeting with Middle East leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians on the Trump two-state plan. Harvey was the second-costliest weather event in U.S. history (Eye to Eye, 394–96).
On June 6, 2001, when Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston with record floods, CIA director George Tenet was in Israel negotiating a cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.