Prime Minister Netanyahu’s fight against terrorists and legal problems
Israel is waging war on all fronts. There is Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Palestinians in the West Bank, the Houthis in Yemen and its proxy Iran. These are just the enemies. Then there are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s struggles within his cabinet and in a country deeply divided over its domestic and war policies.
And as if that were not enough, he is traveling to Washington next week, where he is expected to cause further upheaval there as well.
This trip to Washington is pure partisan politics. It is so obvious that US Ambassador Jack Lew was forced to declare miserably that he hoped Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress next week would contain a bipartisan message.
Netanyahu, a compulsive meddler in American partisan politics, simply could not resist House Speaker Mike Johnson’s election-year invitation to spread the speaker’s message that Republicans are more supportive of Israel than Democrats and President Joe Biden.
It’s an old strategy that originally aimed to attract wealthy Jewish donors and non-Jewish voters. Jews overwhelmingly vote Democratic, but the target audience for these efforts has now expanded to include a key pillar of the party’s base: evangelical Christians like Johnson.
Netanyahu and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had a minor spat some time ago, but both men are pragmatic opportunists willing to put their opinions aside when faced with a common enemy – Biden and the Democrats.
Johnson made Democratic leaders an offer they couldn’t refuse in an election year, and they reluctantly accepted the speaker’s invitation. Biden has refused to meet his old friend Bibi at the White House, a sign of his deep displeasure over the prime minister’s anti-democratic judicial coup and, more recently, over deep disagreements over the conduct of the Gaza war. Given that the prime minister of a close ally is due to address Congress, Biden has no choice but to meet with him.
Biden’s ceasefire agreement
The US president has presented a plan to end the fighting in Gaza and release the hostages, which he said Netanyahu supported. But the prime minister keeps making new “non-negotiable” demands, escalating old ones and breaking previous commitments, especially as Hamas is close to accepting the proposal. Their meeting could be a chance to put pressure on him.
Many in Israel and abroad believe that Netanyahu is needlessly and tragically prolonging the war, because the longer the war goes on, the longer he can stay in power without having to go back to court to face three separate corruption trials.
The Egyptians and Qataris, who are acting as mediators in the ceasefire and hostage-taking, are publicly expressing their frustration at his escapades.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has good relations with his American counterparts, supports the U.S. proposal and places more emphasis on returning the hostages while some are still alive. That could cost him his resignation, as the extremists Netanyahu is relying on to stay in office insist on continuing the war because they want to reoccupy Gaza, expel its residents and build settlements.
“We are making politics instead of making agreements,” said Gallant. Many in the security apparatus want a ceasefire in Gaza so that the hostages can be brought home and the Israeli forces can rest and concentrate on the growing threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu accused the Israeli leadership of “defeatism.”
Israel Defense Forces chief spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said Netanyahu’s call for “absolute victory” was unrealistic. “The idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas and make it disappear is false,” he added.
Former Israel Defense Forces spokesman Peter Lerner told CNN: “There is no political strategy.” The government had “led us to defeat” by losing “international trust.”
When Bibi flies to Washington next week, he will bring some props for his speech: the families of some of the hostages. But at home, tens of thousands of Israelis regularly protest against the feeling that Netanyahu is putting his political survival ahead of the survival of their loved ones and exploiting them by showing false compassion for their ongoing plight.
Many feel that Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has spent more time helping them, meeting them and talking with them than their own prime minister; several hostages are Americans. The prime minister may be trying to use the families traveling with him to demonstrate his concern, but that is a transparent ploy given his policy in Gaza.
With Trump now the official Republican nominee, Netanyahu is expected to meet with him and probably also with his running mate, Senator JD Vance. The Israeli president has long favored Republicans, who are more open to his right-wing policies than predominantly liberal Jews.
“Netanyahu has been working against Biden for months, attacking his administration in English and telling journalists that he is responsible for the Israeli government’s lack of a real war strategy,” writes Amir Tibon of Haaretz. A poll this month found that 54% of Israelis believe Netanyahu is prolonging the war for political reasons, he reported.
Several Democratic lawmakers are expected to boycott Netanyahu’s speech to protest his war policies and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Biden and most Democrats want an early ceasefire that will lead to peace negotiations and, ultimately, a Palestinian state.
Republicans are not as concerned, instead echoing Netanyahu’s complaints that Biden is not doing enough for Israel. Trump has called the president “a very bad Palestinian” who does not want to help Israel “finish the job.”
Netanyahu (Republican, Jerusalem) has tried to interfere in America’s party politics in the past. Democrats remember how he conspired with Republicans in 2015 to block the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. This time, Republicans are repeating his accusation that the Biden administration is not giving him all the weapons he wants. His message – send me weapons, not advice – is likely to be more provocative than productive.
He does not seem to understand that the more he clashes with Israel’s most important American ally, his country’s European partners and Arab friends, and the Israeli public, the more he will appear weak and embolden Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
Congress is not his real audience. Neither are other friends and allies. The audience he is addressing is at home. He wants Israeli voters to see their prime minister on the world stage, receiving a standing ovation in the U.S. Capitol and sitting with the president in the Oval Office. That is the kind of kavod – honor – he cannot get at home.
Israel’s standing in Washington has not been this low for many years, thanks largely to Netanyahu. Next week he will have the opportunity to show whether he can turn things around and end the war or whether this trip is just another PR stunt.
The author is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former legislative director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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