White House Agitates Against Netanyahu as Israeli Prime Minister's Address to US Congress Backfires

As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's plan to attack US President Barack Obama's Iran policy in an address to the US Congress continues to backfire, the White House is engaging in a series of highly visible snubs, refusing Netanyahu a White House invitation and levelling accusations that the Israeli government is not trustworthy. Top administration officials, including Vice-President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State John Kerry, have made a point of meeting Israeli opposition leaders, who have seized on the dispute to characterise Netanyahu as jeopardising relations with Israel's most important ally. The confrontation marks a further deterioration in an already dysfunctional relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, which has been exacerbated by Netanyahu's divisive handling of the issue.

Key Takeaways:

• The White House has engineered a series of highly visible snubs of Netanyahu, including refusing a White House invitation and levelling accusations that the Israeli government is not trustworthy.
• Top administration officials, including Vice-President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State John Kerry, have made a point of meeting Israeli opposition leaders, who have seized on the dispute to characterise Netanyahu as jeopardising relations with Israel's most important ally.
• The confrontation marks a further deterioration in an already dysfunctional relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, which has been exacerbated by Netanyahu's divisive handling of the issue.
• Aaron David Miller, a former US State Department adviser, has stated that the Israeli leader's address to Congress marks a further deterioration in an already dysfunctional relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
• The White House is trying to embarrass Netanyahu before the Israeli electorate by portraying him as untrustworthy and endangering the Jewish state's most important diplomatic relationship.
• The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, and John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, conspired to arrange the speech to a joint sitting of Congress without consulting the administration.
• The USDC has been undermined by revelations that Israel's own intelligence service, Mossad, contradicted Netanyahu's claim to the United Nations in 2012 that Tehran was about a year away from constructing a nuclear weapon.
• The White House has accused the Israeli government of dishonesty in selectively leaking information about the Iran nuclear talks to the Israeli press in an attempt to discredit the negotiations.
• Biden and Kerry met Israeli opposition leaders on the sidelines of a security conference in Germany in a clear snub to the Israeli prime minister.
• Leading Democratic senators, Diane Feinstein and Richard Durbin, have warned Netanyahu that his speech threatens to undermine the important bipartisan approach towards Israel.
• Opinion polls in Israel show the public divided on the address to Congress, with widespread suspicion that Netanyahu is using it for electoral advantage.

Statistics:

• 17 March: The date of the Israeli parliamentary election.
• 2012: The year Netanyahu claimed to the United Nations that Tehran was about a year away from constructing a nuclear weapon.
• 1948: The year the state of Israel was founded.
• 2: The number of leading Democratic senators who have warned Netanyahu that his speech threatens to undermine the important bipartisan approach towards Israel.
• 1: The number of small left-wing party leader, Zahava Gal-On, who has accused Netanyahu of impairing Israel's relations with the US.

Sources:

• Chris McGreal (2023). "White House Agitates Against Netanyahu as Israeli Prime Minister's Address to US Congress Backfires". The Guardian.
• Aaron David Miller (2023). "US-Israeli Relationship: A Series of Missteps". The Wilson Center.
• Diane Feinstein and Richard Durbin (2023). Letter to Netanyahu.