Unwelcome: Here Are the Reasons Behind U.S. Anger Toward Netanyahu

In a move that reveals the extent of the deterioration of their relationship, the Israeli Army radio revealed on March 21, 2023, that senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it is best for him not to visit Washington at this time.

Only hours later, the U.S. State Department summoned the Israeli ambassador to the United States, after the Netanyahu government’s expansion of settlements, despite its commitments to calm, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.

Israeli observers described the U.S. move as an angry message due to Netanyahu’s endangerment of American interests in the Middle East, as well as his sabotage of Washington’s plans to focus the world’s attention on the conflict with Russia and China.

 

Anger and Frustration

As a result of this American anger, Israeli analyst Alon Pinkas said the United States refuses to receive Netanyahu in Washington as it usually does with Israeli prime ministers when they assume power “because it views him as a source of annoyance to its interests.”

Biden did not extend an invitation to meet Netanyahu at the White House, as American presidents usually do after Israeli officials form their new governments, despite the fact that the Israeli government has been formed for about three months.

Prior to this, Biden expressed his anger implicitly in a phone call with Netanyahu on March 19 over his attempts to reduce the powers of the Israeli judiciary and called on him to “settle” the matter, according to the White House.

Two American sources familiar with the call revealed to the Axios website on March 20 that Biden expressed to Netanyahu his concern over the alleged judicial reform plan and warned him of this high level of internal concern about the political situation inside “Israel.”

The Biden administration also refused to receive Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich during his recent visit to the United States and left him isolated as no government official agreed to meet with him.

Two American sources revealed to Politico on December 12, 2022, that the Biden administration intends to hold Netanyahu personally responsible for the actions of the most extremist members of his government.

Perhaps for this reason, the U.S. State Department, in an unusual move between the two countries, summoned the Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, on March 21.

During the meeting, the State Department criticized the right-wing majority in the Knesset’s approval of a law allowing the return of four settlements evacuated in 2005 to the north of the West Bank.

To demonstrate how far the relationship between the two sides has deteriorated, the Hebrew website i24NEWS revealed on March 22 that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held a rebuke session with the Israeli ambassador in Washington.

She said that Americans usually prefer to send their messages to “Israel” without using these steps.

 

Cracking Alliance

An analysis published by The National Interest on March 6, 2023, confirms that Netanyahu’s extremist government represents a direct threat to Washington’s interests in the Middle East and around the world.

The analysis, written by an Israeli analyst at the Hebrew Regional Foreign Policy Institute, Yonatan Touval, shed light on the significant damage caused by the Israeli government to American interests.

He pointed to Biden’s anger at Netanyahu’s actions since heading a government described as the most extremist in Israeli history because things “have literally approached the brink of explosion in the Middle East” and the chances of a third Palestinian uprising against the Israeli Occupation have increased.

Touval said that the Biden administration quickly intervened to defuse tensions, but to no avail as it began to criticize the Netanyahu government.

Before Netanyahu’s government completed its first month, it announced plans to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, intensified the displacement and demolition of Palestinian homes, and increased raids on cities and villages in the West Bank.

Therefore, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region in late January 2023 to send a direct message to Netanyahu, opposing any “provocative actions” against the Palestinians.

But the Israeli response came within days of the United States minister’s departure, in the form of an expansion of settlements, according to The National Interest.

The magazine said that U.S. warnings have escalated since Netanyahu’s government began plans to make radical changes to the work of judges, which, if implemented, would threaten the independence of the judiciary and may trigger a constitutional crisis that could be the end of “Israeli democracy.”

It explained that the U.S. public statements that criticize the Israeli government focus on the “moral” side and that Netanyahu’s actions represent a danger that threatens the “special relationship” that connects “Tel Aviv” and Washington and undermines the “common values” that unite the allies.

But the Israeli analyst wondered whether the Biden administration was “naive” or “intentional” in its actions toward “Israel.”

Touval stated that these plans, which the Israeli government seeks to pass, represent a real threat to the alleged democracy, but the repressive and provocative measures taken by that government against Palestinians represent a direct threat to American interests. Therefore, focusing on the threat to Israeli democracy is either “naivety” or “lack of resourcefulness” on the part of the Biden administration.

He also stated that one of the most significant things revealed by the “angry and critical statements” from the Biden administration toward the Israeli government is how Washington has failed to accurately assess the extent of the danger that the government poses to U.S. interests.

He warned that the Palestinian front is the clear front where U.S. interests are directly threatened due to the expansionist and oppressive policies of the Israeli government, which has already caught the attention of the Biden administration, prompting them to intervene but to no avail.

The continuation of the Israeli government’s oppressive measures against Palestinians in the occupied territories threatens to escalate the situation, which poses a serious threat to stability in the region and a direct threat to U.S. interests.

 

The Language of Interests

According to a study published by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations on July 20, 2022, many important interests for the United States may be affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

The study pointed to a wide range of interconnected objectives, including securing vital energy resources, countering Russian and Iranian influence, ensuring the survival and security of “Israel” and Arab allies, combating terrorism, promoting democracy, and reducing refugee flows.

The study also highlighted the United States’ efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which has been a major driver of regional dynamics, while focusing on achieving these strategic goals with a balance of support for “Israel” and pressure for broader regional stability.

The study also stated that “the conflict is also the focus of attention for the American Jewish and evangelical Christian communities, both strong supporters of Israel.”

Furthermore, this extreme Zionist policy of Netanyahu and his allies will cause strategic damage to both the United States and “Israel.”

The U.S. national security strategy announced by the Biden administration on October 12, 2021, prioritized China and Russia while reducing focus on the Middle East.

However, the threat of an extremist Israeli government jeopardizing U.S. interests has prompted a shift in priorities, which now center on strengthening American power elements to overcome strategic competitors, Russia and China.

The U.S. strategy identifies China as the only competitor to Washington in reshaping the global system. The Middle East conflict distracts from the global focus that the United States is trying to establish against these two countries.

On March 21, 2023, the Israeli National Security Center published a “strategic alert” warning of the damage caused by Israeli extremist policies, focusing on “the damage to relations with the United States and Israel’s international standing.”

The center warned of widening the Israeli–American disputes due to Netanyahu’s plans for what he calls “judicial reform.”

The Israeli alert stated that in light of the urgent security threat facing “Israel,” which is Iran, Israelis need stronger support from the United States more than ever.

It emphasized that the motivation to expand the Abraham Accords to additional countries as a central goal of Israeli foreign policy largely depends on the United States.

Therefore, the deterioration of these relations threatens one of the fundamental pillars of Israeli national security and raises questions about whether Netanyahu needs to complete the judicial reform or not, according to the center.