Israel and the US have a longstanding alliance; political leaders from both countries regularly visit the other for talks and to make speeches. But a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress, scheduled to take place next month, has caused huge controversy in the US. The reason? The White House was not consulted at all. The invitation to speak before Congress came from the House Speaker, Republican politician John Boehner, who has been in talks about the plan with Israel’s ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, for some time. None of the parties concerned notified the President or his team.
The plan has caused outrage amongst Democratic senators. The invitation is seen as an attempt by Republicans to undermine the Obama administration, and as a clear snub by Netanyahu. Several Democrats have said that they will not attend Netanyahu’s address – it has even been rumoured that Vice-President Joe Biden is among those who will boycott the talk. Representative John Lewis of Georgia summed up the sentiment when he said that the way the speech was organised as “an affront to the president and the State Department”. Netanyahu has been criticised for behaving in a partisan manner and engaging with Republican point-scoring, when international alliances should be above such wrangling.
It is widely expected that Netanyahu will use his speech to address what he sees as the danger of America’s rapprochement with Iran. This is another reason that the plan has caused such outrage amongst Democrats: it is scheduled to take place three weeks before the deadline for the US and its international partners to reach a framework agreement with Iran that could potentially provide an outline for a more comprehensive deal to be finalised by late June. The Obama administration is deep in negotiations with Iran about curbing its nuclear programme, and thinks that Netanyahu’s speech will make it harder for US parliamentarians to support this diplomatic push. Judging by past statements, Netanyahu is likely to portray any nuclear deal as a direct threat to Israel’s security. His well-documented view is that Iran cannot be trusted to stick to any deal and that US diplomats are being naïve.
Yet it is possible that the speech will actually undermine Netanyahu’s goals in the US. The Republicans are pushing a bill that would introduce more sanctions on Iran – a move that would certainly undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts, which depend on the loosening of sanctions. While the general view amongst Democrats is that a negotiated settlement is the best outcome for global security – and for Israeli interests – some Democrats do favour tougher sanctions. This Democratic support would have helped the Republicans to push the bill through. But after the plans for Netanyahu to address Congress emerged, several Democratic Senators have said they will postpone any support for the sanctions bill until March, after the deadline for talks has passed.
All this begs the question of why Netanyahu chose to get embroiled in the internal politics of his country’s closest ally at all, and why he chose to further alienate the administration. After all, Obama will continue to be president of the US until 2017. Part of the answer lies in the fact that Israeli elections are approaching. The speech will take place three weeks before Israel’s elections and, it is hoped by Netanyahu’s camp, will boost his hopes of re-election. Footage of Netanyahu speaking out against Iran while being applauded by the US Congress will undoubtedly bolster his image with domestic voters.
It is also worth noting that this has not happened in isolation; it is no secret that Netanyahu and Obama do not get on well. For years, Netanyahu has made no attempt to disguise the fact that he has a clear preference for the Republican Party. This is partly because of simple ideological parity; Netanyahu’s Likud Party is more closely aligned with the Republicans than with the Democrats, who have more in common with Israel’s centre-left parties. Netanyahu has had close personal ties with American neoconservatives for years, stretching back to the Reagan era. Dermer, the Israeli ambassador who struck the deal with Boehner, previously worked for the Republican strategist Frank Luntz. The political networks of the Israeli right and the American right, then, are closely intertwined.
Regardless of this, Netanyahu’s decision to so openly snub the President of the US, Israel’s most-valued ally, is still a reckless one. With the elections approaching, it appears that he is putting his party’s interests above his country’s.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.