Prominent American columnist Thomas Friedman said that what is happening in Israel has revealed a new disturbing truth for the United States: that it is dealing for the first time with an irrational Israeli leader who represents a danger to important American interests and values, as well as to Israel.
Friedman said that what is happening calls for an immediate reassessment by US President Joe Biden and the pro-Israel Jewish lobby in America of the issue of trust in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In an article published in the New York Times, Friedman pointed out that Netanyahu's assurances about the integrity of democracy in Israel and his promises to keep Israel's foreign policy and traditional policies as they are despite his ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies in the government turned out to be false.
"From day one, it was clear to many of us that this Israeli government would dare to do things that no one had dared before. In the absence of real safety barriers, it could take the United States and world Jewry across red lines they never imagined crossing."
Netanyahu's government, he said, could "destabilize Jordan and the Abraham Accords, destroy hope for a two-state solution, and bring Israel to the brink of civil war on its 75th anniversary."
The right-wing government considers control of the Israeli Supreme Court as the first key to implementing its agenda, as it represents the only independent legitimate obstacle to the ambitions of Netanyahu and his partners in the extremist coalition, and is now seeking to do so under the pretext of "judicial reforms."
Friedman noted that Netanyahu was forced to suspend judicial reforms for fear of civil war, after the unprecedented revolution in Israel over the weekend, in which a broad cross-section of Israeli society and the armed forces participated, as well as some members of Netanyahu's party.
He said Netanyahu had offered to suspend efforts to control the judiciary and gave about a month to allow for negotiations with the opposition to see if a compromise could be reached.
"But no matter what happens, it is clear that Netanyahu has become an example of an irrational leader in international relations, his behavior is no longer predictable, and President Biden should not trust his words."
He added that the United States should ensure that Netanyahu does not use American weapons to enter a war of his choice with Iran or Lebanon's Hezbollah, without the full and independent support of Israel's top military leadership, which opposed his judicial coup.
Friedman concluded that it was time for the U.S. government, Congress and American Jewish lobbyists, who have long supported Netanyahu, to make clear that they are siding with the Israelis who took to the streets last week to ensure that the 75th anniversary of Israeli democracy is not the last.