The situation in Gaza has deteriorated to the point where the UN has declared the Gaza Strip “uninhabitable” and the US, Israel’s most effective ally, can do nothing about its inhumane actions, according to Responsible Statecraft.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has reignited the view in the vast majority of the so-called Global South that the Palestinians are a new confrontation between colonialism and imperialism. Israel’s campaign against Gaza will not end anytime soon, the Abrahamic Accords between Israel and the four Arab countries may survive in name only; popular outrage against Israel in these countries will render them worthless.
Biden, as the leader of a “superpower” has a duty to stop the folly of Netanyahu and his nationalist-religious extremist allies. Without US support, Israel has no future. A firm public demand for an immediate halt would have enormous domestic political consequences in Israel – and far less in the United States.
Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, has no post-war plan. On the contrary, he has an intention to continue the war for as long as possible, perhaps by attacking Lebanon, which Biden “strongly” opposes, not to mention depopulating Gaza by displacing its homeless residents in Sinai or deporting them elsewhere.
Most members of Netanyahu’s government would leave it. Even the most hawkish of the IDF leadership would not want to test the resolve of an American president. Netanyahu’s refusal would hasten the departure of secular Israelis, as well as many Haredim, especially those with American passports.
If Netanyahu’s intransigence is not controlled, he will lead the US into military action.
The initial embrace of Israel and unconditional material and moral support from the US was entirely expected. It was an emotional response to the horrors of 7 October. While Biden deserves much credit for his handling of the war in Ukraine, Israel’s war in Gaza shifted American attention away from Ukraine. The American president has become bogged down in waging a war secondary to American interests and has diverted attention and resources away from a conflict whose outcome is vital to the United States. Biden’s policies have led others to view America as either weak or complicit. He has allowed Netanyahu to get away with “flipping the finger” at the United States, which has dealt a serious blow to the superpower’s prestige.
Moreover, Israel’s conflict has had a corresponding impact on the domestic situation in the United States as well. Firstly, given its large Arab-American population, Michigan lost out. Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin also have significant Muslim and Arab populations. Secondly, it is going to lose the Armenian vote unless someone clamps down on the hooligans viciously attacking Armenian clergy in Jerusalem.
Biden doesn’t seem to realise that his position is aimed at Netanyahu’s political survival, not Israel’s long-term interests. He doesn’t care about the damage he is doing to Israel. He has sacrificed the Jewish homeland to his personal interests. He and his government have presided over the murder of innocent civilians unseen in any of Israel’s previous wars. Their rhetoric reinforces the view gaining ground around the world that Israel has decided to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from their homeland; South Africa has taken the genocide case to the International Court of Justice, which is due to hear it this week.
Now we can go back to history a bit. After his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996, Bill Clinton vented his fury to his staff over his guest’s apparent assumptions about the balance of power in the bilateral relationship.
Twenty-seven years later, another American president must ask himself the same question about the same Netanyahu and the country he leads.
It is essential to realise (although this may well be bygone history, a new myth) that a determined American president can do whatever he wants, whether or not he is opposed by a powerful lobby. Eisenhower, for instance, did it by forcing David Ben Gurion to withdraw from Sinai in 1956. Carter did it during his “walk in the woods” at Camp David in 1978, forcing Menachem Begin to give up settlements in Sinai and agree to a peace treaty with Egypt. No one believes Netanyahu is made of the same stuff as Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin or Yitzhak Shamir.
