Netanyahu has managed to frustrate just about everyone
Lying POS wants to extend the war.
President Biden is at his wits’ end. The Israeli military is exasperated. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis who regularly take to the streets suspect their leader of trying to prolong the war. And then there are the international organizations, European powers, hostage families and members of the U.S. Congress. If nothing else, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brought together an impressive list of adversaries who, even if they are sympathetic to Israel’s national security needs, are convinced that Netanyahu is, in Biden’s words, “bulls---ing” them about cease-fire negotiations.
Israeli Channel 12 News reported that Biden’s outburst “came after Netanyahu told Biden that Israel was moving forward with negotiations on a hostage-for-ceasefire deal and would soon send a delegation to resume talks.” The phone call between the two leaders, according to the report, ended with Biden telling the prime minister, “Don’t take the president for granted.” All this comes in the wake of a series of Israeli strikes eliminating Hamas leaders, which once more increases the risk of a wider regional war.
Few independent Middle East experts would differ with analyst Aaron David Miller, who observed, “I’ve interacted [with] 7 Israeli Prime Ministers. All of them had differences w/the US. After all, Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood. We don’t.” However, he added, “None demonstrated less appreciation/respect for U.S. interests and an American President than Benjamin Netanyahu. Not even close.”
Frustrated Americans are in good company. “Israeli defense chiefs believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in a hostage deal/cease-fire with Hamas,” according to a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team, as Haaretz reported. “Earlier on Friday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on a tense exchange between Netanyahu and the defense chiefs, in which Shin Bet head Ronen Bar said, ‘It feels like the prime minister doesn’t want the framework that’s on the table.’ Turning to Netanyahu, he added that if that is the case, ‘you should tell us.’”
Even more acrimonious than the Netanyahu-Biden relations, the prime minister might be on the verge of firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Bar “to eliminate opposition to the way he is handling the negotiations for the return of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 and their charges that he’s at risk of sabotaging a deal," according to the Times of Israel. Should that happen, we could well see a political convulsion akin to the last time Netanyahu tried to fire Gallant.
Several things can be true simultaneously. On the one hand: Netanyahu would rather perpetuate the war than face coalition partners about a day-after plan for Gaza; he takes provocative steps (including an assassination carried out inside Iran) knowing that the United States will bail Israel out when Iran retaliates; and he refuses to identify either a definition of “victory” or a strategy for obtaining it.
And yet, on the other hand: Hamas, backed by Iran, initiated the war with the barbaric Oct. 7 attack and the taking/mistreatment of civilian hostages; Hamas uses human shields with a strategy to maximize civilian deaths; and Hamas has yet to accept a cease-fire proposal.
As Middle East expert Robert Satloff explained: “The targeted killing of three terrorists responsible for thousands of innocents killed, including a key player in the murder of hundreds of American troops in Beirut, is not the reason for increased risk of regional war; rather, Iran’s strategy of targeting Israel by arming, training, financing and guiding proxy forces in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Gaza coupled with its development of long-range missile/drone systems aimed at Israel is the core reality of the current crisis.”
As Israel anticipates Iran’s retaliation and the United States amasses military units in the region, where does that leave the sides? Barring a severe miscalculation by Iran and Israel (always a real risk), Iran’s retaliation and Israeli’s counterstrike will be conducted in a way that does not set off a regional conflagration.
The sides could very well then return to gridlock, endless negotiations, continued fighting and diminishing hopes of saving the lives of the remaining hostages. Alternatively, Biden could go bold: Make a trip to Qatar, Egypt and Israel. Turn up the public pressure with the potential of a reduction in military aid to all sides and speak in person directly to the Israeli public (as Netanyahu did to a joint session of Congress).
As to an appearance in Israel, Biden could explain that Israel has never had and will never have as loyal and devoted a friend as he, but that Israelis must insist that their own government prioritize a cease-fire and return of the hostages. He could tell them that Hamas has been effectively defanged, many of its leaders are dead, and endless war will not increase their security. The benefit gained from each day of fighting is marginal at this point.
Even that might not bring an end to the war, but at least Biden will have done everything humanly possibly to pressure all sides to come to a deal. Israel — its politicians, military and public — must want peace and all that entails (including some degree of security risk) more than it wants war. If not, no U.S. president can stop the killing.
Opinion by Jennifer Rubin
Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's "Green Room."
