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Netanyahu visit heightens US election drama
Biden, Harris and Trump all want the exposure and photo op in a heated campaign season; Netanyahu needs the visit to survive
By DANIEL WILLIAMS
JULY 24, 2024
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu is headed to Washington. Image: YouTube Screengrab / CNN
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, where he will try to navigate the political minefield of a heated US presidential election campaign where all sides want to exploit the Gaza war to their own advantage.
Netanyahu will kick off his US schedule Wednesday (July 24) with a speech to the US Congress. He will try to justify his all-out war on the Gaza Strip, which he launched last October in retaliation for a day-long attack on Israeli communities by Hamas, the anti-Israeli Islamic movement that ruled Gaza.
Then follows a possible series of meetings with President Joe Biden and a pair of politicians trying to replace him: Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump. All will want to fit Netanyahu’s visit into their own particular political needs.
Biden, who on Sunday suddenly dropped out of his run for reelection, will want to show he is still in charge and not a hapless lame duck. He is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Harris, chosen by Biden and top Democratic Party leaders and members to replace the president in the November national election, will also speak with the Israeli leader on Thursday. She will try to display her foreign policy touch and expertise.
Netanyahu had to swallow an affront from Harris to get the meeting: She is skipping his speech to Congress to attend a campaign rally in the US midwest; as vice president, she would normally preside over a joint session where the Senate is present.
One way or another, Netanyahu is at odds with Biden, Harris and Trump — an unusual trifecta of complications facing a visiting foreign leader who heads a close US ally.
Netanyahu has resisted Biden’s pressure to change battlefield tactics in Gaza – meaning, to kill fewer civilians, agree to a ceasefire and negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state at the war’s end. Netanyahu wants only a temporary ceasefire and opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
A deep dispute between the two leaders dates back to 2015, when Biden was then-president Barack Obama’s vice president. Biden lobbied Israel in favor of Obama’s nuclear arms control deal with Iran.
At the time, he called it “a good deal, first and foremost, for the United States,” and went on to declare, “It’s a good deal for the world, the region, and it’s a good deal for Israel…. I firmly believe it will make us and Israel safer, not weaker.”
Netanyahu disagreed and accepted an invitation from Republicans to address Congress in order to argue against the Iran deal. Republican leaders arranged his visit without clearing it with Obama.
“This is a bad deal – a very bad deal. We’re better off without it,” Netanyahu told the legislators. He then lobbied US politicians to oppose the deal.
Like her White House boss, Harris also disagrees with Netanyahu’s management of the Gaza war and resistance to the creation of a Palestinian state. She was the first Biden administration official to call for a halt to fighting in order to ease the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Netanyahu has insisted that only persistent military pressure can free them.
She made the ceasefire pitch in Selma, Alabama, to African-American supporters, a constituency that normally supports Democrats running for office but opposes Biden’s heavy military support for Israel in the Gaza war.
Trump is generally a staunch supporter of Israeli policies. In 2017, he formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It was a step that was much desired by several Israeli governments but until then rejected by presidents belonging to both US political parties.
Trump also supports Netanyahu’s relentless war on Gaza, which is soon to enter its tenth month, but previously feel out with the leader for congratulating Biden for winning the 2020 election, which Trump has insisted was stolen.
There’s an intense effort by Harris and Trump to frame Netanyahu’s visit as a way to influence a slice of US voters especially interested in the subject: Harris, to persuade Jewish Americans that she supports Israel while trying to persuade Arab Americans that she is concerned about Palestinian civilians; and Trump, to at least persuade Jewish Americans that they should abandon their customary support for Democratic Party candidates.
Netanyahu wanted all the scheduled meetings for his own political needs. He needs victory, as he has defined it, to stay in power. If he is ousted, he could face longstanding accusations of corruption.
“Netanyahu has been scrambling for the meetings and the photo opportunities each would bring, with the current president as well as with Harris and Trump,” wrote the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an outlet based in New York City.
“The meetings will come … as he strives to project a confident image at home amid war and protests demanding that he agree to a deal to free hostages held by Hamas,” it said.
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TAGGED:2024 US Presidential ElectionBenjamin NetanyahuBlock 2Donald TrumpGaza Cease-fireGaza WarHamasIsrael-Hamas WarJoe BidenKamala HarrisTwo State SolutionUS-Israel Relations
DANIEL WILLIAMS
Daniel Williams is a former foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald and an ex-researcher for Human Rights Watch. His book Forsaken: The Persecution of Christians in Today’s Middle East was published by O/R Books. He is currently based in Rome.
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