Netanyahu fights with Biden over arms transfer as US elections heat up

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified his feud with President Biden over the war in Gaza, accusing him of blocking arms transfers in a highly public dispute that analysts say is aimed at pressuring and potentially even embarrassing the White House before the US elections. .

The week-long confrontation began when Netanyahu released a video claiming to have spoken with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Israel about how it was “inconceivable” that the US was withholding weapons.

The accusation was quickly denied by Blinken and other Biden administration officials who criticized Netanyahu for sparking conflict.

But the Israeli leader only doubled down on his claims amid speculation that Netanyahu would prefer to see the return of former President Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee who is expected to debate Biden on Thursday.

Laura Blumenfeld, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University and former senior policy adviser on the State Department’s Israeli-Palestinian negotiating team, said it was clear that Netanyahu was trying to attack Biden.

“When you have one friend in the world, you don’t fight with him unless a better friend comes along,” she said. “Part of this is about Netanyahu anticipating a Trump presidency and working with Republicans in Congress to surround Biden and embarrass him during the national presidential campaign.”

Former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert wrote a scathing article on Wednesday, he called Netanyahu’s public criticism of the US an “irresponsible provocation” that risked destroying the complex relationship between the countries.

“His televised displays of braggadocio and arrogance, in which he berates the President of the United States and his actions, are a masterful performance of irresponsibility, loss of calm and disregard for Israel’s most basic needs, and a calculated attempt to sabotage his re-election of Biden campaign,” Olmert said.

Trump had a close relationship with Netanyahu during his term in office, when his administration moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and officially recognized the historic city as Israel’s capital. His administration also established the Abraham Accords, which allowed several Arab nations to normalize ties with Israel.

Netanyahu and Trump had a falling out when the Israeli leader acknowledged Biden’s 2020 election victory, but that could be repaired, said Ehud Yaari, a Lafer International Fellow at the Washington Institute based in Israel.

“[Netanyahu] believes that this special relationship can be reconstituted,” he said, as the feeling that “Trump could return” grows in Israel.

Netanyahu’s spat with the White House contrasts with that of his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is in Washington this week to meet with senior officials including Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Gallant is a member of Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party but has disagreed with the prime minister before, including over what he said was Netanyahu’s lack of a concrete post-war plan for Gaza.

Blumenfeld said there is a clear “difference in vision” between Gallant and Netanyahu, with the defense minister looking to work closely with the Biden administration as an ally.

“Netanyahu thinks he can achieve the same results, but through conflict,” she said, adding that Israel depends on US weapons and Netanyahu’s “panic is palpable” about Biden potentially withholding support. “If you watch this [initial] video, he looks like a teenager whose cell phone charging cable was taken away.”

Looming over the dispute is Biden’s dissatisfaction with the war in Gaza and his concerns about an all-out conflict with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed armed group in Lebanon that has been trading cross-border fire with Israel in support of the Palestinian people.

The Gaza conflict has created a deep rift between Democrats and Netanyahu. After nearly nine months of war, more than 37,000 Palestinians have died, prompting protests in the US and abroad and calls in Washington to minimize civilian suffering.

Netanyahu also failed to heed U.S. calls to chart a clear path to end the war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,100 people. Hamas also took around 250 hostages, around 120 who remain in Gaza.

This week, Netanyahu promised that a lower-intensity conflict would continue in Gaza once the last of the main fighting ended in Rafah, and wants to maintain indefinite security control over the coastal strip. The US has stated that Israel’s permanent presence in Gaza is unacceptable and suggested that the Palestinian Authority should supervise the strip after the war.

Tensions between the US and Israel reached a high point in March when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) called for new elections in Israel, in one of the most vehement challenges to Netanyahu by a senior official. in Washington. .

Over time, Biden also intensified his criticism of Netanyahu, including in an interview in June, when he said that there was “every reason” to conclude that the Israeli leader was continuing the war in Gaza for his political survival.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), who returned from a bipartisan delegation to Israel earlier this month, said it was unclear why Netanyahu chose to publicly spar with Biden, but said both countries were addressing the issues.

“A lot of progress has been made in the last few months and weeks, and even more in the last few days,” he said. “There is an emerging alignment in terms of what should happen in the future.”

Although Biden is holding back about 3,500 heavy bombs due to concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza, US officials are adamant that no other weapons are being deliberately suspended.

But Netanyahu leaned into the fight and said he was “willing to suffer personal attacks” if the arms transfers go through.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 on Sunday, he said there had been a slowdown since about four months ago, when Biden began expressing concerns about an operation in Rafah, which at the time was housing more than a million Palestinians.

“I thought the only way out of this impasse was to give it public expression,” Netanyahu said of his public criticism. “I did not do this lightly. “

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller again rejected the accusations at a press conference on Monday, saying that support for Israel remains “steadfast” and that nothing has changed.

“I don’t understand what that comment meant, just as I didn’t understand the comments we discussed last week when we heard them make similar statements,” Miller said, reiterating that they just paused the heavy bombs. .

“Obviously, they were making intense requests at the beginning of the conflict and we were responding to those requests. They continue to place orders and we continue to fulfill them,” she added.

The weapons delay may be a symptom of a bureaucratic delay rather than a specific policy, analysts say.

After October 7, the US accelerated arms transfers to Israel to quickly defend the nation after the surprise attack. But now, months later, those weapons may have been returned to the normal process rather than being subject to an expedited order.

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said at a conference on Monday in Israel that arms shipments continue, although “perhaps not at the speed of October 8, when things were at an extraordinary pace of response”, which, he added, was not sustainable in the long term.

“We are at a different point now in the war, in the process, but we are not at a different point in terms of U.S. support for Israel,” Lew said.

While the US may not be deliberately slowing down transfers, the bureaucratic delays could be beneficial as Washington seeks to avoid a potential war with Hezbollah, said Yaari of the Washington Institute.

“This happens for objective reasons, but it may also be in line with the American desire to convince Israel not to start a large-scale, devastating war in Lebanon,” he said.

A US special envoy is in the region trying to de-escalate a wider conflict in Lebanon, even as Israeli officials continue to publicly warn of an all-out war. Netanyahu said this week that once the war in Gaza ends, his forces will be ready to advance north into Lebanon.

But the rift between Biden and Netanyahu also comes amid internal turmoil in Israel, with protesters demanding authorities accept a ceasefire agreement and return remaining hostages in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet collapsed last week after centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz resigned over the direction of the war, or lack thereof. Gantz called elections and accused Netanyahu of continuing the war for his political survival.

Russell Berman, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and an expert on the Middle East, said there are “multiple dimensions” to the confrontation between Biden and Netanyahu, including domestic concerns in Israel.

“There has likely been some genuine slowness in shipments, or at least a reluctance on the part of the White House to speed up a normally bureaucratic process,” Berman said.

But it is also “political advantage for Netanyahu to be seen as someone who stands up to the White House,” especially amid criticism over the October 7 attacks, Berman added.

“The liberal perspective in the United States is that Netanyahu is too strong on security,” he said, “and I think the criticism leveled at him in Israel is that perhaps he is not strong enough on security.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story