Netanyahu’s Folly
The message the Israeli prime minister delivers to Congress will not be the one he intends.
On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu will receive an ovation in the United States Congress, at least from a large swath of the chamber. But he hardly deserves one. More than 100 Israeli hostages—some alive, many dead—remain trapped in Gaza because of his failure to aggressively pursue a deal for their release. His strident refusal to ponder the postwar governance of Gaza means that anarchy and misery will prevail there for the indefinite future—conditions that terrorists almost always exploit.
With his coalition fraying and his political future in doubt, Netanyahu has begun resorting to an old political instinct: He’s picked a diversionary fight with a Democratic president. Last month, he recorded a video falsely accusing Joe Biden’s administration of depriving Israel of the weapons it needs to win the war against Hamas. And upon his arrival in the U.S., he will embrace Biden’s political opponent, Donald Trump, and bask in the adulation of the president’s strident Republican critics.
Although a skirmish with Biden might help Netanyahu navigate his personal short-term crisis, it is terrible for Israel’s long-term interests. That’s because no American president has suffered as much politically for what he has done on Israel’s behalf as Biden has. Biden’s Zionism cost him the affection of his party’s base, which turned on him at his hour of greatest need. For months, as his campaign faltered, he was heckled by left-wing critics of his Israel policy everywhere he spoke.
In return for Biden’s devotion, Netanyahu has consistently displayed ingratitude—and hardly a hint of reciprocity. By attempting to turn Biden, one of the most pro-Israel presidents in the history of the country, into a villain, Netanyahu is sending a message to other American politicians, especially Democrats: There’s no glory in being a resolute ally.
The story is familiar to Israelis who have obsessively followed Biden’s travails. They watched as critics of Israel attempted to persuade Democratic-primary voters to mark “uncommitted” on their presidential ballot. They saw how White House interns wrote a letter chastising Biden for his support of Israel, evidence of a deep revolt within his own administration against his policy.
Facing these critics and his own domestic weakness, Biden asked Netanyahu for a bit of help. He wanted Israel to do a better job of distributing humanitarian aid; he pressed Israel to stick to its original timeline for the war, in which it would have ratcheted down operations at the beginning of this year. But at almost every turn, Netanyahu resisted Biden’s pleas to follow a different path. When he did oblige, it was only after painful importuning.
That may have bothered Biden, but until recently, he avoided sharply attacking Netanyahu in public. Indeed, Biden kept defending Israel against its critics. He rebutted the charge that its operations in Gaza constitute genocide. He condemned the International Criminal Court when it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. He vetoed United Nations resolutions condemning Israel.
Not only that, but Biden also deployed American power to protect Israel against its most ominous enemy. When Iran attacked Israel on April 13, a general he had dispatched coordinated its defense. American pilots shot down drones headed to the country. It was a literal act of allyship.
And after all of that, when Israel ignored Biden’s request to refrain from invading Rafah, the president quietly suffered Netanyahu’s defiance and took only the most minimal actions to protest it.
Biden comes from a different generation, one that considered Israel to be a great liberal cause. In the marrow of his bones, he believes that the Jewish state is essential to the preservation of the Jewish people. Aside from evangelical Christians, most American politicians no longer have such a profound commitment to Zionism. And during the current war, with the images of terrible suffering in Gaza, American attitudes toward Israel have shifted quickly, especially on the left. Supporting Israel is hardly the obvious political choice it once was.
If American politicians become reluctant to throw their being into the defense of Israel, it is because they will have studied this object lesson. They will be intimately familiar with Netanyahu’s shabby treatment of Biden—and Netanyahu will bear responsibility for the consequences. As much as any failure in Gaza, Netanyahu’s cynical trashing of Israel’s most sincere friend will have left his country lonelier, weaker, and far more exposed.