‘Multi-front war’: Netanyahu faces chaos in the US, anger in Israel and threats from Iran

President Joe Biden’s sudden status as the isolated and outgoing commander of Israel’s military has thrown a wrench into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to mobilize U.S. opposition against Iran and its proxies. The embattled premier is currently facing a cold shoulder from Democratic leaders and pressure from his own security apparatus.

“I think we will see an Israeli prime minister who will try to shift the focus to … (the analysis that) Israel is at war with Iran,” said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which Washington Examiner“It’s a multi-front war that’s currently being fought across the Middle East – Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran itself. All of those fronts have been heated at different times over the last nine months, but they’re all part of a much bigger picture that I think the American public has missed.”

And yet, when he appeared in Washington, it was not clear how much of Netanyahu’s agenda was actionable. Biden, still recovering from Covid and the political mutiny that forced him to abandon his bid for re-election, could not confirm that he would even meet Netanyahu, and Vice President Kamala Harris decided to campaign during his speech, even though she had agreed to meet with him privately.

“She will reiterate her deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the loss of innocent lives,” a Harris aide said Monday. “We expect the Vice President to express her view that it is time to end the war in a way that keeps Israel safe, releases all hostages, ends the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and allows the Palestinian people to enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination. And they will discuss efforts to reach an agreement on the ceasefire.”

Netanyahu’s team also heard indirectly from Biden, who gave an outlook on the remaining months of his presidency in a phone call with the campaign team.

“I will work very closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians to figure out how we can end the war in Gaza, bring peace to the Middle East and bring all the hostages home,” Biden said in a publicly broadcast speech on Monday. “I think we are close to doing that.”

But Biden’s message touches on several issues that have undermined Netanyahu’s standing at home and abroad, in the tenth month of a grueling war to “destroy Hamas” and free the hostages the terror group kidnapped during its rampage through southern Israel on Oct. 7. The civilian casualties and humanitarian crisis in Gaza prompted an uproar in the United States and across the American alliance network. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stressed that Hamas “uses civilians as human shields,” but congressional leaders had to rush to find a Senate Democrat willing to sit behind Netanyahu during his address. Senate President pro tempore Patty Murray (D-WA) also refused to take on that role.

After some digging, it emerged that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, who is not seeking re-election, was the Democratic senator who would deliver the speech. Moreover, no cabinet member greeted the incoming prime minister when he landed at Joint Base Andrews. Overall, it was a frosty reception that threatens to diminish the impact of the pageantry Netanyahu had hoped for.

“He is being besieged by the Israeli left and to some extent even by the Israeli center, and his rule is being challenged,” Schanzer said. “So this is supposed to be his chance to confront all that and show that he is a statesman, that he is a world leader and that he is still very welcome. That is the message he will convey at home.”

If all goes well enough, it could help Netanyahu strengthen his position with Israeli voters who are angry at his government’s failures in the run-up to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that sparked the war and suspect that the far-right wing of Netanyahu’s coalition dissuaded the prime minister from forging a ceasefire to release the hostages. And it could be an opportunity for U.S. and Israeli politicians to have a working-level discussion about the direction of the two governments’ strategies in the region at a potential turning point in the conflict.

“What really needs to be clarified is that Israel wants to finish the job in Gaza because it feels the need to quickly prepare for what is likely to be a new war with Hezbollah,” said Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a historian at the University of Haifa, who Washington Examiner“I don’t think Israel can afford not to confront Iran or any of its allies. And the United States doesn’t want to get involved there.”

Their differences go beyond how to respond to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, whose rocket and artillery fire has forced the evacuation of northern Israel. Netanyahu hinted at the deeper differences hours after Israeli forces retaliated against the Iran-backed Houthis, who launched a suicide drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed one person.

“I want to thank the United States, Britain, France and other members of the international maritime coalition formed to repel the Houthis’ attacks,” Netanyahu said on Saturday. “But the drone attack that hit Israel in the early hours of yesterday shows that more than just defensive measures are needed to contain the Houthis. Offensive measures are also needed. They must ensure that Iran’s terror proxies pay a price for their brazen aggression.”

At home, however, Netanyahu faces a problem that has plagued Biden in recent weeks: the maneuvers of (former) allies leaking their efforts to pressure him to change course. As Netanyahu prepared to visit the United States, leaders of the Jewish state’s national security apparatus urged him to strike a deal with Hamas to release hostages – even if that involves a withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from Gaza.

“We will know how to create the flexibility needed to comply with the terms of the agreement,” IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told Netanyahu during a meeting on Sunday. “Now it is time to combine military pressure and negotiations and see how we proceed.”

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The leak added to the security-conscious demands of the hostages’ families, who on Monday renewed their call for a hostage deal.

“We fully expect that his speech to Congress on Wednesday will be the announcement of this hostage deal we have all been waiting for,” said Jon Polin – whose son Hersh Goldberg Polin is one of several Israeli Americans held by Hamas – ^ “Haaretz”. “We consider any speech that is not an announcement a complete failure.”