{"id":10580,"date":"2024-03-27T00:04:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T00:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/27\/domestic-political-pressures-widen-divide-between-biden-and-netanyahu\/"},"modified":"2024-03-27T00:04:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T00:04:23","slug":"domestic-political-pressures-widen-divide-between-biden-and-netanyahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/27\/domestic-political-pressures-widen-divide-between-biden-and-netanyahu\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Political Pressures Widen Divide Between Biden and Netanyahu"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/10\/26\/multimedia\/26mideast-crisis-biden-netanyahu\/26israel-gaza-what-we-know-05-jmpb-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Domestic Political Pressures Widen Divide Between Biden and Netanyahu\" title=\"Domestic Political Pressures Widen Divide Between Biden and Netanyahu\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Relations between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appear to have sunk to a new low, with both men pressed hard by domestic politics and looming elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden is facing outrage from global allies and his own supporters about the toll of civilian deaths in the war against Hamas and Israel\u2019s restrictions on allowing food and medicine into Gaza amid critical shortages. On Monday, Mr. Biden allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/middleeast\/un-security-council-gaza-ceasefire.html\" title=\"\">the U.S. ambassador abstained<\/a> rather than vetoing the measure, as the United States had done in the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In response, Mr. Netanyahu, who is trying to keep his own far-right coalition government in power, called off a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/19\/world\/middleeast\/rafah-netanyahu-biden.html\" title=\"\">planned high-level delegation<\/a> to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials to discuss alternatives to a planned Israeli offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people have sought refuge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu, however, allowed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, to remain in Washington for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/26\/world\/middleeast\/biden-netanyahu-gallant.html\" title=\"\">talks with top Biden administration officials<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those are \u201cthe talks that matter,\u201d said Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. He said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/middleeast\/israel-ceasefire-rafah-netanyahu.html\" title=\"\">Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s cancellation<\/a> of the other meetings, a public poke in the eye of the American president who requested them, \u201cis strictly performative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu is facing sharp criticism from his far-right coalition partners, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over any indication that he is hesitating in the war against Hamas or in the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. His wartime government is also deeply divided over proposed legislation that could end up drafting more ultra-Orthodox Israelis, known as Haredim, into the military \u2014 a vote that was suddenly postponed on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For now, at least, Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s political survival depends on keeping Mr. Ben-Gvir and Mr. Smotrich in his coalition. If they leave the government, it would force early Israeli elections that Mr. Netanyahu would most likely lose to his centrist rival, Benny Gantz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">New elections are precisely what Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/14\/us\/politics\/schumer-netanyahu-israel-elections.html\" title=\"\">called for in a recent speech<\/a>, in which he said Mr. Netanyahu was an impediment to peace. Mr. Biden called it \u201ca good speech\u201d without endorsing the call for elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who previously worked with Mr. Netanyahu, said the prime minister was seeking to embody a central narrative: \u201cWe must stand strong, even against the United States, and I am the man with the backbone to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu and his far-right partners have made increasingly harsh remarks criticizing the Biden administration. In a recent interview, Mr. Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, accused Mr. Biden of tacitly supporting Israel\u2019s enemies like Yahya Sinwar, Hamas\u2019s leader in Gaza, and Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic congresswoman of Palestinian descent who represents a Michigan district.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPresently, Biden prefers the line of Rashida Tlaib and Sinwar to the line of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir,\u201d Mr. Ben-Gvir said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By seeking to pressure Israel, President Biden was \u201cenormously mistaken,\u201d Mr. Ben-Gvir said, adding that Mr. Biden \u201cconstantly sought to impose restrictions on Israel and talks about the rights of the other side, who include, I remind you, many terrorists who want to destroy us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden\u2019s action on the Security Council resolution appears to be more political than substantive, and his own officials insist that American policy has not changed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The U.S. government remains committed to supporting Israel, and there has been no hint that it might reduce the supply of American weapons going to Israel. The U.N. abstention does not amount to an American veto of Israel\u2019s military campaign against Hamas in Rafah, though it does underscore American and allied desire that Israel first come up with a detailed plan to spare the civilians hunkering down there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Biden is also conscious of the souring attitudes toward Israel in his own Democratic Party, undercutting his support in battleground states as he runs for re-election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The administration\u2019s recent actions add up to both serious and substantive signaling of the president\u2019s displeasure with the Israeli prime minister, said Natan Sachs, director of the Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/01\/world\/middleeast\/israel-settlers-west-bank-sanctions.html?action=click&amp;module=RelatedLinks&amp;pgtype=Article\" title=\"\">imposed sanctions<\/a> on violent Israeli settlers, multiple administration officials have offered <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/press-briefings\/2024\/03\/18\/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-13\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">sharp public criticism<\/a> of Israel\u2019s plans to press its offensive into Rafah<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"> and Mr. Gantz, against Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s wishes, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/04\/world\/middleeast\/kamala-harris-gantz-israel-cease-fire.html\" title=\"\">visited Washington<\/a>, where he was granted meetings with high-level officials, including Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden\u2019s national security adviser, and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are deep disagreements between Biden and Netanyahu and there is a clear change of policy\u201d in Washington, Mr. Sachs argued. \u201cThere are always politics at play, but these differences are not purely politically driven.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States continues to work with Israel and Arab allies in an attempt to broker a temporary cease-fire in Gaza in return for the release by Hamas of Israeli hostages. Washington hopes to turn a temporary truce into a longer-term one that could allow for serious talks on how Gaza can be governed and rebuilt while protecting Israeli security. But that is a battle yet to be fought, especially as talks on a temporary cease-fire drag on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Unlike previous U.S.-Israeli spats, this one is occurring during a war in which what eventually happens in Gaza \u2014 whether Hamas is finally defeated or emerges with operational military units \u2014 is a serious issue of Israeli security, said Aaron David Miller, a former American diplomat now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHow does Biden change the picture in Gaza when the Israeli prime minister and much of the Israeli public, including Gantz, are committed to the war aims of defeating Hamas in Gaza and restoring Israeli security?\u201d Mr. Miller asked. \u201cYou need the acquiescence and support of the prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The risk for Mr. Biden, Mr. Miller said, is that his confrontations with Mr. Netanyahu may make it more difficult to get Israel\u2019s cooperation on the president\u2019s goals \u2014 \u201ca de-escalation of the war, a massive increase in humanitarian assistance and a less bloody operation in Rafah,\u201d let alone a workable postwar plan for governing Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a deeper way, the present disagreements build on 20 years of increasingly difficult relations over Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s efforts to undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is a building sense that the Israel-U.S. relationship is coming apart,\u201d Mr. Miller said. \u201cDo they really share our values and interests when their policy is annexation in all but name and they defy advice from one of the most pro-Israel presidents in history?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu has a history of using his arguments with American presidents \u2014 including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton \u2014 to bolster his domestic political standing, seeking to show that he is Israel\u2019s best defense against outside pressure for concessions on relations with the Palestinians or even on a now-faded deal to restrain Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Right now, Mr. Netanyahu is trying to portray himself as standing up to Washington and the world in the name of Israeli security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe is setting up a situation where he can blame the U.S. for holding him back in Rafah from finishing the job with Hamas and keeping Israel from obtaining its goals,\u201d said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel now at Princeton University. \u201cAnd if he does go in, he can argue that he\u2019s the only Israeli leader who can withstand American pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, said that Mr. Netanyahu would try to blame Mr. Biden for failing to triumph over Hamas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cSince there won\u2019t be a total elimination or eradication of Hamas, he needs someone to blame,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s only one person he can blame for it \u2014 Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the same time, Mr. Kurtzer said, Mr. Biden is far more popular in Israel than Mr. Obama was and a serious break with Washington would deeply undermine Israel\u2019s security, its military capacity and its future. So Mr. Netanyahu has to be careful not to go too far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Relations between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appear to have sunk to a new low, with both men pressed hard by domestic politics and looming elections. Mr. Biden is facing outrage from global allies and his own supporters about the toll of civilian deaths in the war against Hamas and Israel\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/10\/26\/multimedia\/26mideast-crisis-biden-netanyahu\/26israel-gaza-what-we-know-05-jmpb-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45,15675,6435,4758,234,15673,15674],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10582,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10580\/revisions\/10582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}