The October 7 embrace between Netanyahu (right) and Biden did not last long (Anadolu Agency)

Since his arrival to the presidency of the government in Israel in 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu has been leading relations with Democrats in the United States to decline, and they have reached an unprecedented deterioration with the recent speech by the leader of the Democratic majority in Congress, Chuck Schumer, who called for elections to be held in Israel to replace Netanyahu.

The dispute with the Democrats is due to the difference in point of view regarding the strategy followed in the Middle East, as the Democratic administrations in the United States seek to create a state of balance between the main powers in the Middle East region that allows them to secure their interests in the long term by supporting their allies, containing their opponents, and pushing everyone towards harmony with The American vision for the region.

To this end, democratic administrations view the conflict in Palestine as the main factor of tension in the region, which requires “conflict management” that prevents its eruption, and at the same time enhances “Israel’s security” and paves the way for its natural involvement in the region. This calls for maintaining the “peace process” or efforts Reaching the two-state solution is a path that looms on the horizon all the time, regardless of achieving practical results.

The two-state solution

Netanyahu opposes the Democrats' vision of keeping the two-state solution as a framework for the American approach to conflict management. In this regard, Netanyahu leads the right-wing vision in Israel, from the center right to the extreme nationalist religious right.

Rejecting the two-state solution has always been Netanyahu's main material for strengthening his leadership of the right, which has enabled him to remain in power.

The second element in the American democratic strategy in the Middle East is the Iranian nuclear file, an issue that represented an unprecedented peak of disagreement between the Democrats during the era of former President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.

At the time when the Obama administration went to conclude an agreement described as historic with Iran regarding its nuclear file, Netanyahu led an international campaign against the American endeavor at that time. Netanyahu’s anti-Obama campaign was not limited to the international level, but rather included the unwelcome entry of Netanyahu into American domestic politics by the Democrats.

Netanyahu's speech in the US Congress in March 2015 was recorded as a turning point in the relationship between the two sides, as Netanyahu attacked Obama and his administration in their "home backyard," which was what the Republicans employed in a campaign that did not stop against the Democrats until the elections that President Donald Trump won at the end of the year. 2017.

Alliance with the religious movement

Netanyahu's alliance with the extreme nationalist religious movement led by Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich also constituted a strong motive for the tense relationship with the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden. Which Netanyahu accuses of bringing down his government in the summer of 2021.

Netanyahu's current government coalition was based on a number of commitments with which it responded to the demands of the extremist nationalist religious movement, while the Biden administration believes that the coalition agreement led by Netanyahu will change the identity of "Israel" and will undermine American influence there.

The far-right approach to the conflict in Palestine and the Middle East also contradicts the vision of the Biden administration, which carried the slogan of “de-escalation” in the region.

This tension between the two sides carries within it a complication related to the role of “American Jews” and their position on the dispute. This dispute between the longest-serving prime minister in Israel and the Democratic administrations has put the Jewish Democrats on the verge of choosing between the interests of the United States and the vision of the Democratic Party on the one hand and the interests of “ Israel, which has always enjoyed their support and care.

As the dispute escalates these days between the Biden administration and Netanyahu, the loudest and most united voice came from the highest-ranking Jewish political figure in the United States, the leader of the Democratic majority, Chuck Schumer, who began his speech with a reference to the meaning of his name in Hebrew, “guardian,” and demanded that new elections be held in Israel. To replace Netanyahu, in a rare indication of the contrast between Netanyahu and American Jewish leaders.

Perhaps this is one of the most important aspects of the disagreement with Netanyahu, but it is the least visible in the public, given that the Jewish lobby generally avoids criticizing Israel and its policies. Therefore, Chuck Schumer's speech was considered an exceptional and unprecedented event.

The broader movement in the Jewish lobby in the United States believes that the current Netanyahu government is endangering the identity and interests of "Israel" by its alliance with the extreme nationalist religious movement.

“Embraces” 7th of October

The “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7 represented a different moment in the relationship between the two sides. After intense tension imposed by the anti-Netanyahu demonstrations in protest against his plan for judicial reform, Netanyahu found himself in “Biden’s arms” on the eve of the unprecedented strike carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement. In the Gaza Strip.

Under the weight of shock and the feeling of existential threat in Israel, the Biden administration has thrown its weight into closing the internal ranks and setting the strategic course of the Israeli war on Gaza, which Netanyahu will lead.

Although the latter agreed to form a war council designed according to American conditions, the fact of the dispute with the Biden administration remained present on Netanyahu’s agenda during the war, and even constituted an important factor in his decisions related to the war.

The dispute over what was called the “day after” the war is the first file of disagreement between the two sides in the management of the war, as the Biden administration seeks, from the beginning of the war on Gaza, to reset the regional compass in restoring calm and imposing its approach to managing the conflict in Palestine by maintaining the “two-state solution.” On the distant horizon. On the other hand, Netanyahu insists on rejecting the American approach to return the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza.

Netanyahu believes that raising the issues of the day after the war, especially the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, is an attempt by the Biden administration to strike the government coalition he leads, given the position of his far-right allies in rejecting the two-state solution and the continued threat to Netanyahu if he responds to American pressure.

Military failure

The Israeli military failure to quickly resolve the battle and achieve its declared goals of eliminating Hamas, ending its rule, and releasing prisoners also constituted a prelude to the return of disagreement with the Biden administration, which sought to enter the election year after the war on the Gaza Strip had stopped. But the approach taken by Netanyahu to prolong the war may cause repercussions on Biden's electoral future and the image of the United States at the international level. Gradually, the Democrats' conviction resurfaced that Netanyahu would sacrifice Israel's interests and the relationship with the United States in exchange for remaining in power, and a new campaign of escalation began between the two sides.

This disagreement showed that the Biden administration's policy regarding the war in Gaza is stuck between its insistence on supporting Netanyahu in achieving his declared war goals and its rejection of a permanent ceasefire, and Netanyahu's use of this to strengthen his stay in power and confront American pressures on him.

At the same time, the intensity of the dispute between the two sides and Schumer's recent speech indicate that the relationship between the two sides has entered a critical stage that may result in a shift in the level and nature of the measures that the Biden administration can take to pressure Netanyahu.

One of these measures is what the American writer Jonah Blank referred to in his article in the American magazine Foreign Affairs. Plank believes that the Biden administration can put pressure on Israel by suspending and re-reviewing aid, and by lifting its cover in international institutions, especially the Security Council, and may go so far as to announce the severance of relations with Netanyahu and demand his resignation.

In an interview published yesterday, Wednesday, by the New York Times, with Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he said, "I wrestled with myself. Perhaps I should say that Bibi should step down."

This level of public and direct criticism may constitute the highest level of the Democrats' options over Netanyahu, but the strength of the position that Netanyahu enjoys in the Knesset and his keenness to avoid the fall of his government and face corruption cases and investigation committees again, will push him to continue the fight with the Democrats, who may find themselves facing the main question. Either we topple Netanyahu, or Joe Biden loses the election.

Source: Al Jazeera