Biden confronts Israel dilemma with the new Netanyahu government
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is little more than a week old but it’s already giving the Biden administration headaches.
Only days into its mandate, a controversial member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Cabinet riled U.S. diplomats with a visit to a Jerusalem holy site This is what some fear could be the beginning of more contentious moves.
And, Netanyahu’s government adopted punitive measures against the Palestinians This is in direct contradiction to recent Biden moves to increase U.S.–Palestinian relations. These include restoring assistance to Palestinian Authority, which was cut during Trump’s presidency, and allowing Palestinian officials visit the United States.
Biden’s national security staff is trying to shift their attention away from the Middle East toward countries like China and Russia. The new government is a problem. This also happens as Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives, and they are eager to portray Biden as hostile to Israel in the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections.
Biden, in preparation for more chaos, will dispatch his national security advisor to Israel in January to prevent any further rifts between the administration and its top Mideast partner. According to administration officials, Jake Sullivan’s trip to Israel could be followed up by other high-level visits to Israel, such as one by Secretary Antony Blinken.
The message goes beyond warnings against inflaming tensions among Palestinians. It also addresses not coddling Russia, especially since Moscow is now relying on Iran’s main enemy, Israel, in its war with Ukraine.
U.S. officials tried to dampen predictions of a collision course after Netanyahu won the hotly contested election last year, with overwhelming support from the Israeli right. They said they would judge Netanyahu’s government on his actions, not his personalities. Biden spoke about his long-standing relationship with Netanyahu.
“I look forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been my friend for decades, to jointly address the many challenges and opportunities facing Israel and the Middle East region, including threats from Iran,” Biden said when Netanyahu took office Dec. 29.
Biden and Netanyahu are still not friends, even though they have been friends for many years. Biden and former Obama administration officials who now work for Biden still harbor resentment toward the prime minister who, during his previous iteration as Israel’s leader, sought to derail their signature foreign policy achievement: the Iran nuclear deal.
The administration is still signaling that it will engage Netanyahu, while avoiding other members of his government. This approach is not unusual in the region. The U.S. has negotiated with the government of Lebanon while shunning members of the Hezbollah movement. Although a foreign terrorist organization, it is still a major domestic political force. However, it would be unusual for the U.S. not to do so with such a close ally.
“We will be dealing directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week when asked about possible contacts with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s, whose visit to the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary prompted a major outcry.
The inclusion of Ben-Gvir, a West Bank settler leader, and other extreme right-wing figures in Netanyahu’s government who are hostile to the Palestinians and opposed to a two-state resolution has put Israel and the United States on opposite paths.
Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations was present at an emergency meeting on Thursday of the Security Council, which was called by Arab countries to condemn Ben-Gvir’s holy site visit. underscored Biden’s firm support for “the historic status quo,” especially the “Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount.”
Wood noted that Netanyahu had pledged to preserve the status quo — “We expect the government of Israel to follow through on that commitment,” he said — and stressed that the administration placed a priority on preserving the possibility of a two-state solution.
But Friday is different Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinian leadership in retaliation for the Palestinians pushing the U.N.’s highest judicial body to give an opinion on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
These moves highlighted Netanyahu’s hardline approach towards the Palestinians, which he has promised to implement at a time of increasing violence in the occupied territory.
The Security Cabinet decided that millions of dollars would be withheld from the Palestinian Authority, and that the money would be transferred to a compensation program for families of Israeli soldiers who were killed in the conflict. And, it will deny benefits, including travel permits, to Palestinian officials who “are leading the political and legal war against Israel.”
Biden’s administration continues to move in a totally opposite direction. The Trump-imposed ban on aid has been reversed by the Trump administration and more than $800million in security, economic and development assistance has been provided to the Palestinians.
The State Department received a Justice Department opinion in the fall that allowed Palestinian officials to travel to the United States and spend money there. This is despite the fact that such travel is prohibited by law and that the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can enforce its foreign policy decisions.
The administration “may reasonably assess that being prevented from hosting the PLO delegation in Washington would seriously impair the president’s diplomatic efforts,” the Justice Department said in a little-noticed Oct. 28th opinion.
Just one week after Netanyahu was elected in December, the State Department issued but immediately lifted terrorism sanctions against the Palestinian leadership. It stated that engagement with the Palestinians is an important U.S. national security concern.
On Dec. 22, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman notified Congress that she had imposed travel bans on senior leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization because they “are not in compliance” with requirements to tamp down and publicly condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis.
But, in the same notification, the State Department said Sherman had waived the travel bans “based on her determination that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.”
“An enduring and comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians remains a longstanding goal of U.S. foreign policy,” the department said. “A blanket denial of visas to PLO members and PA officials, to include those whose travel to the United States to advance U.S. goals and objectives, is not consistent with the U.S. government’s expressed willingness to partner with the PLO and PA leadership.”
Despite an annual aid package of more than $3 billion to Israel and diplomatic backing at international forums, U.S. influence with Netanyahu seems limited.
Biden has yet to follow through on its promise to reopen Jerusalem’s U.S. consulate. The consulate had been the main point of contact for Palestinians. Both were closed during Trump’s administration.
Alon Liel was a former director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He said that further U.S. rapprochement might be the only way for Netanyahu to be influenced. “If they really want to inflict pressure (on Israel), Biden tomorrow should say in the coming months, we will consider reopening the Palestinian embassy in Washington. Then they will see the earth shaking here,” Liel said.
“But there is no sign of that,” he said. “As long as they say, ‘We’re worried about your democracy,’ those words are meaningless because there were so many words. There’s nothing behind the words.”
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Laurie Kellman contributed from Jerusalem.