Netanyahu publicly gives Biden the finger
No mention yet of any threat to reduce military deliveries to Israel
This won’t actually happen without the US substantially cutting Israeli arms supplies. Or ending them altogether. At least as long as Netanyahu is the Prime Minister because the obviously intends to keep and active war going, spreading it to include other countries, and getting the US into a war with Iran.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu about possible solutions for creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting one path could involve a non-militarized government.
Biden's call with Netanyahu was the first in nearly a month, the White House said, noting the discussions focused on Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden had been trying to schedule the call "for quite a bit of time" and denied it came in response to Netanyahu's comment on Thursday saying he objected to Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.
Asked if a two-state solution was impossible while Netanyahu was still in office, Biden said, "No, it's not."1
The invaluable Laura Rozen reports:
Netanyahu picked a fight with Biden because he thinks it helps himself politically at home, said Natan Sachs, Director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy.
“Netanyahu has now opened a public front with Joe Biden,” Sachs told me by phone today. “And Joe Biden, unlike Barack Obama, has gained enormous credit from the Israeli public. Enormous, historic. On the level of Truman and Kissinger. … And he can use it. … I don’t think he needs to be so cautious” about potentially appearing to interfere in Israeli domestic matters.
Biden could make the case that the United States is heavily involved and has a high interest in the successful resolution of the Israel-Hamas conflict, “and also say it to the Israeli public,” Sachs said. “And Joe Biden is in a perfect positon to say it. …Biden has enormous good will in Israel. He could use it. And I don’t think he needs to be timid. The one who is on his heels here is Netanyahu. He is the one who’s in dire straits, and he’s the one now trying to pick a fight that he thinks will help him.”2
Biden seems to be using a foreign-policy version of his “bipartisanship” talk about how he’ll be able to work with his good friends on the Republican side. Netanyahu is even less likely to respond favorably than Elise Stefanik and Lindsey Graham are. And why would he, as long as Biden is providing what still is essentially unconditional support for Israel war against Gaza civilians and participating in widening the war?
Check out this list of headlines from Ynet News on November 20.3 Does this look like de-escalation or preventing the war from spreading?
Amos Harel describes what kind of ally Netanyahu has been for the US and what kind of partner for the Biden Administration:
Israelis are no longer enjoying the quietest security decade ever, for which Netanyahu claimed credit just three years ago. On the contrary, the number of people killed in Israel in 2023 was the highest in 50 years, since the Yom Kippur War. The feeling of security, at home and on the borders, has been completely undermined. The deterrence in the face of Hamas, Hezbollah and other potential enemies has been weakened. Israel faces a multi-arena battle, with Netanyahu and his aides arguing whether it's eight, seven or only six different threats.
The thought that it would be possible to bypass the conflict with the Palestinians by means of peace and normalization arrangements with Gulf countries has been refuted. So, too, has the twisted idea of strengthening Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, in the hope that it would be possible to maintain eternally a divide-and-rule policy in the territories, which would thwart the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The backing Israel has gotten from the United States proved to be strong, but not because of Netanyahu – but rather in spite of him. At every opportunity the Biden administration gives expression to its disgust at the prime minister. And the expectation of gaining an alternative advantage from relations with other international powers, such as Russia and China, supposedly thanks to Netanyahu's personal ties with their leaders ("a different league"), has also been shattered since the attack by the Hamas terrorists on the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip.4 [my emphasis]
Netanyahu is also talking about his own version of Israeli control of the current area of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza “from the river to the sea.” Which Netanyahu supporters have been saying since October 7 was a call for genocide - at least when Palestinians or antiwar protestors use it.5
Juan Cole:
The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports on the press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He vowed to continue the war on Gaza and vowed to attack Iran. “Who says we won’t attack Iran? We will attack it.”
At one point Netanyahu insisted that in any foreseen arrangement for the future, “Israel must control all the lands west of the Jordan.”
(It is worth noting that such a massive annexation of Palestinian territory would expand Israel from the river to the sea, and would permanently destroy any possibility of a Palestinian state.
When supporters of Palestinian rights use this phrase, Zionists allege that it is murderous toward Israelis. They are wrong — it is a demand for political rights for Palestinians. Marc Lamont Hill was actually fired from CNN for using this phrase in a pro-Palestinian speech at the United Nations. The odious Rep. Elise Stefanik got Claudine Gray fired as president of Harvard because she would not categorize the phrase, used in pro-Palestinian student demonstrations, as Antisemitic.6
Alex Kane and Jonathan Shamir a few days ago provided this sketch of the developing regional conflicts sprouting around the Gaza war that involves or could involve Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, possibly Saudi Arabia:
Many Middle East analysts say the Biden administration’s attempt to avert regional war is failing for one main reason: its refusal to couple a plea for de-escalation with advocacy for a ceasefire in Gaza. “Seeing the wider regional conflict as something that can be managed separately from Gaza is the source of the dissonance [in the administration’s strategy],” Bazzi told Jewish Currents. “You can’t prevent the wider regional war effectively without addressing the core immediate issue, which is the Israeli assault on Gaza. It’s just wishful thinking in the Biden administration that somehow it can separate the two.”7
Meanwhile, professional chaos agent and awful Prime Minister Netanyahu is basically telling his most important international ally to kiss his behind - oh, and keep sending all the weapons we demand and keep up your increasingly lonely diplomatic support for our war on Gaza Palestinians.
"In their conversation on Friday, the prime minister repeated his long-held assertion that Israel must maintain full security control in the Gaza Strip, which would conflict with the Palestinian demands for sovereignty." …
Netanyahu said in the press conference that in any future resolution, Israel must have control of the entire area west of the Jordan River. He said as prime minister, he must be able to stand up even to the best of Israel's friends.8
Biden’s decision to launch missile strikes on Yemen (the Houthis) has not looking like a good one since it began:
“Restoring deterrence” is the rationale that is most often given for this kind of U.S. strike, and that has been voiced on Capitol Hill by those supporting the new attack on Yemen. What gets forgotten is that the other side has no less a desire to “restore deterrence” than the United States does. That means a U.S. attack stimulating counter-retaliation rather than causing an adversary to cower in fear of what the U.S. military might do next. The recurring tit-for-tat between the United States and certain militias in Iraq, where the 2,500 American troops there frequently get attacked, demonstrates this dynamic.
The Houthis have given ample reason to believe that they will strike back rather than cower. They welcome an armed confrontation with the United States. In addition to their principal motivation of supporting the Palestinians of Gaza, the Houthis, by flexing some muscle in the Red Sea, show themselves as a regional player to be taken seriously rather than just a poor relation in a corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
And this further observation from Juan Cole raises and obvious question: why isn’t Biden willing to be much more definitive in his public statements about Netanyahu, who is obviously hostile to Biden, would love to see Trump back in the White House, and is not at all popular among Israeli voters:
Netanyahu is on trial for corruption and fears going to jail if he loses his current position. Opinion polling suggests that he and his coalition partners would be crushed at the polls if the government fell and new elections were held now. Some polls show that only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain at his post once the war on Gaza ends. Many Israelis blame him for the security failures attendant on the October 7 terrorist attack. He in turn has represented himself as the only one who can stand up to pressure for the establishment of a Palestinian state. [my emphasis]
Shalal, Andrea (2024): Biden says Netanyahu not opposed to all two-state solutions for Palestinians. Reuters 01/20/2024. <https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-discussed-developments-israel-gaza-with-netanyahu-white-house-says-2024-01-19/> (Accessed 2024-20-01).
Rozen, Laura (2024): Biden speaks with Netanyahu after Israeli PM rejects US post-war vision. Diplomatic 01/20/2024. (Accessed 2024-21-01).
Breaking News. Ynet News 01/20/2024 (5:35 PM EST) <https://www.ynetnews.com/category/3089> (Accessed 2024-20-01).
Harel, Amos (2024): Netanyahu's Government Gets More Delusional as Israel's Campaign in Gaza Grinds On. Haaretz 01/196/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-19/ty-article/.premium/netanyahus-government-gets-more-delusional-as-israels-campaign-in-gaza-grinds-on/0000018d-1e3d-dd75-addd-fefd93760000> (Accessed 2024-20-01).
Netanyahu: 'In the future, Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.' Middle East Eye YouTube channel 01/19/2024. (Accessed 2024-21-01).
Cole, Juan (2024): Netanyahu says Israel must Control from the River to the Sea, but it won’t cost him his Job as it does Palestinians. Informed Comment 01/19/2024. <https://www.juancole.com/2024/01/netanyahu-control-palestinians.html> (Accessed 2024-21-01).
Kane, Alex & Shamir, Jonathn (2024): Regional War: An Explainer. Jewish Currents 01/17/2024. <https://jewishcurrents.org/regional-war-an-explainer> (Accessed 2024-20-01).
Eichner, Itamar (2024): PM contradicts Biden in extraordinary Shabbat statement. Ynet News 01/20/2024. <https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skhdpbtya> (Accessed 2024-21-01).