Dem
51
GOP
49
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in D.C. yesterday for talks with Joe Biden today and an address to Congress tomorrow. As we note above, he will also talk to Kamala Harris. It is not known yet if he will talk to Donald Trump, with whom he is on the outs. The PM's visit has become exponentially more complicated by Biden's sudden exit from the race. This means that short term, Netanyahu has to deal with Biden, but longer term, he might have to deal with Harris. He and Biden do not get along at all but he has no history with Harris. He got along with Trump while Trump was president, but he is far too smart to bet the farm on Trump winning, especially now with Sunday's Giant Reset, not to mention Trump's anger over Netanyahu's congratulating Biden on winning the 2020 election.
Netanyahu went to high school in Pennsylvania, has two degrees from MIT, speaks flawless English, and understands American politics better than any other foreign leader as a result of living in the U.S. for more than 10 years. He wants something from Biden—weapons and ammo—but fully realizes that Biden is in a pickle, with some Democrats and most Republicans approving his war in Gaza after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, but some very noisy others opposing the war. He also knows that Congress controls the purse and is badly divided on this issue. He understands the importance of public relations and his speech tomorrow will be as much to the American people as to the 535 members of Congress. In addition, he is under indictment for corruption in Israel, so he has quite a balancing act to pull off.
Netanyahu is not the only one who wants something from the meeting today. Biden wants Netanyahu to accept a deal that roughly consists of a cease fire in return for Hamas releasing the more than 100 hostages Hamas is holding in secret locations. Of course, the deal has to be something Hamas will also accept. Biden will press Netanyahu hard because he knows that getting a cease fire will take a lot of the wind out of Trump's sails in the campaign.
Although he presumably wants his one-time (and future?) buddy Trump to win, Netanyahu knows Biden is currently in charge and Harris might be on Jan. 20, 2025, so he has to appear extremely bipartisan. Taking sides could be fatal to his goals. He will emphasize how American presidents, Democratic and Republican, going back to Harry S. Truman have supported Israel. He will also emphasize the fact that Israel is America's closest ally in the Middle East and a valuable source of information about all the other countries in the neighborhood. He can bond with almost any American politician over his hatred of Iran.
Netanyahu can be brutally frank in private and may well be so in talks with Biden and Harris, but has to walk a fine line with his address to Congress and other public remarks. He knows there is a lot of opposition to the war in Gaza, not only from the left in the U.S. but also from the left in Israel. His government is hanging by a thread. Over 500 Israeli writers, scholars, and other public figures have expressed their dismay with his visit to the U.S., which they say serves only his personal interests, not those of Israel or the U.S. Can you imagine, a politician interested only in hanging onto power at all costs?
Netanyahu also knows that every word he says will be parsed nine ways to Sunday by the small extreme right-wing parties that prop up his government. If he says anything too conciliatory, they could bolt and force new elections he would probably lose. But if he is not conciliatory enough, Biden and/or Harris may oppose giving him the hardware he wants. That said, if they don't give him the weaponry, he won't agree to a cease fire, which could be politically fatal to Harris. Being President of the U.S. is undoubtedly the toughest job in the world, but being prime minister of Israel probably is up there in the top five. (V)