The strange relationship of the USA with Netanyahu and Israel

The strange relationship of the USA with Netanyahu and Israel

In an excerpt from Bob Woodward's new book “War,” the journalist reports that President Joe Biden's frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu erupted in profanity this spring, with Biden exclaiming that Netanyahu was “a villain” and some stronger words use. Despite a decades-long friendship between the two, Netanyahu has ignored every significant demand Biden has made during the current war in Gaza. Still, Biden was unwilling to really use U.S. influence to pressure Netanyahu to change course.

Biden is not the first president to express his displeasure with Netanyahu — or use profanity. Even before Netanyahu became prime minister, his role as an Israeli diplomat so angered senior members of the George HW Bush administration that he was temporarily banned from visiting the State Department.

After Netanyahu became prime minister, he angered President Bill Clinton during a joint press conference in 1996, prompting Clinton to ask his advisers, “Who is the (expletive) superpower here?” After losing an election in 1999, Netanyahu became president in 2009 re-elected prime minister when President Barack Obama was in the White House, and their relationship was frosty at best. Netanyahu had a cordial relationship with President Donald Trump during Trump's presidency, but after Netanyahu called Biden to congratulate him on his 2020 presidential victory, Trump was angry at the Israeli prime minister's disloyalty and also reportedly used a slur against Netanyahu.

But despite his tendency to frustrate and anger US presidents, Netanyahu often gets what he wants from Washington. In fact, it appears that he can usually ignore all of the president's requests and demands, despite the billions of dollars in annual funding and other forms of support that the US continually provides to Israel. American leaders often try to persuade Netanyahu to make minor policy changes through diplomatic and political ties, but have largely been unwilling to suspend economic and military aid as he rejects calls to stop taking steps that undermine peace efforts.

Despite his tendency to frustrate and anger US presidents, Netanyahu often gets what he wants from Washington.

Kerry Boyd Anderson

In the past, U.S. leaders have demonstrated a willingness to exert significant pressure on Israel or to break with Israeli leadership on issues that presidents view as critical to U.S. security and interests. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower forced Israel and its allies to withdraw from the Suez Canal. During the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger viewed the Middle East—although he generally favored Israel—through the lens of the Cold War and was willing to put pressure on Israel if he believed it served U.S. interests.

In 1991, Bush denied Israel $10 billion in loan guarantees because of disagreements over settlement expansion – an unusual case. Despite Israel's vehement objections, Obama continued the nuclear deal with Iran.

However, the US does not view Israeli-Palestinian peace as a key national interest. To be sure, some presidents have seen peace as a useful pursuit that could also strengthen their legacies, but—at least during Netanyahu's years in power—they did not see the point in spending large amounts of political capital on it. This has given Netanyahu plenty of room to sabotage any efforts toward a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu intentionally undermined peace efforts during the Clinton administration, as Clinton later admitted. Netanyahu ignored government calls to halt settlement expansion and take other steps. However, Clinton and many of his officials placed most of the blame for the failure of the peace talks on the Palestinians and did not use the greatest leverage they had with Israel to secure major concessions.

During George W. Bush's administration, Netanyahu remained influential but was not prime minister. The Bush administration was closely allied with Israel, and by the time Netanyahu returned to power in 2009, the West Bank settler population had increased dramatically.

Netanyahu has repeatedly and brazenly ignored Biden's demands. Biden is angry but continues to provide huge amounts of aid.

Kerry Boyd Anderson

Obama's rise to the presidency raised hopes that the United States might finally have a president who would be willing to use billions in aid to Israel as leverage to force it to make concessions for peace. To be sure, the relationship between Netanyahu and Obama became increasingly frosty, but Obama's focus was on reaching an agreement to block Iran's nuclear development. Obama was willing to ignore Netanyahu's warnings about Iran, but proved unwilling to spend significant political capital pushing Israel to make peace with the Palestinians. The expansion of settlements in the West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip continued.

Trump had no interest in pressuring Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, and Netanyahu was able to continue his policies toward the Palestinians without encountering objections from the White House.

Biden clearly assumed when he took office that he would have some influence over Netanyahu, given Biden's pro-Israel stance and his longstanding relationship with Netanyahu. While Biden's team may score some small diplomatic victories, Netanyahu has repeatedly and brazenly ignored Biden's demands in all basic areas. He has not put forward an overnight plan for Gaza, has not made more effective efforts to protect civilians, has not consistently allowed sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza, has not adopted ceasefire proposals for Gaza, or adopted a ceasefire proposal for Lebanon. He directly rejected Biden's insistence on a two-state solution. Biden is angry but continues to provide large amounts of aid and weapons.

Whoever becomes the next president should recognize that Netanyahu will ignore any demands from Washington that he doesn't like unless the president is willing to credibly and seriously threaten to cut off aid. It is strange that one country would provide billions of dollars to another country without expecting significant influence and concessions in return, but such is the relationship between the US and Israel.

• Kerry Boyd Anderson is an author and political risk consultant with more than 18 years of experience as a professional analyst on international security issues and political and business risks in the Middle East. Her previous positions included deputy director of consulting at Oxford Analytica. X: @KBResearch

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