The events of the last eight months have consistently raised feelings of déjà vu regarding various individuals and groups. The déjà vu I am currently experiencing involves reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has organized an appearance before a joint session of the two US Houses of Congress.
Today, the House of Representative is currently led by the Republicans, who are opposed to the current Democratic administration.
Netanyahu is undoubtedly planning to address some of the Biden administration’s current Middle East policies, which differ from the Israeli government’s positions.
These will most likely include Israel’s continued fighting in the Gaza Strip and the pressure on Israel by the Biden administration to accept the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu's strategy with US elections on the way
Netanyahu might also have at the back of his mind the thought that he can strengthen the chances of former president Donald Trump to defeat President Joe Biden in the presidential elections next November.
However, if this is indeed Netanyahu’s wish, the question is: How can he reconcile this while ensuring that Biden’s administration will penalize the International Criminal Court in the Hague, should it implement arrest warrants against himself and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes in the war in the Gaza Strip?
The last time Netanyahu performed such a ploy was in March 2015, when Barack Obama was approaching the last year of his second term as president, and Netanyahu was trying to stop the US from signing a nuclear agreement with Iran.
Netanyahu took advantage of the fact that both Houses of Congress were held by the Republicans to arrange his unconventional performance.
Although he failed to prevent the US from signing the agreement with Iran, he undoubtedly contributed to the Republican success in regaining the White House less than two years later.
This time, the Republicans hold only the House of Representatives, and the Jewish majority leader of the Senate – Chuck Schumer, a Democrat – who was originally unenthusiastic about inviting Netanyahu.
Schumer, who has been vocally critical of Netanyahu, had to be cajoled by the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, into signing a bipartisan letter of invitation to Netanyahu to attend a joint session of the two Houses.
It is yet to be seen whether or not Netanyahu will use the opportunity to embarrass a Democratic president in Congress for the second time in nine years.
Netanyahu’s 2015 speech in Congress caused me great embarrassment for two reasons: I was opposed in principle to Netanyahu’s attempt to stop the US from signing the nuclear agreement with Iran.
In addition, having taught international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I believe that Netanyahu’s address to Congress was in the category of “isn’t done” in the relations between democratic states – certainly between states that have special relations.
But even if I weren’t opposed in principle to our prime minister using the US Congress as a platform to try to embarrass the president, in light of Netanyahu’s generally poor public performances since he returned to power in November 2022, the thought of his giving an uninspiring performance on Capitol Hill, or worse still, making a fool of himself, depressing.
MEANWHILE, IT was reassuring to hear Netanyahu saying in a CNN interview last Wednesday that Jewish resettling in Gaza is “not in the cards.”
This statement came in reply to a question about something recently said by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that Israel should conquer the Gaza Strip and reconstruct Jewish settlements there while encouraging the Gazans to emigrate “voluntarily.”
Unfortunately, Netanyahu does not usually react loudly and clearly to other statements made and acts encouraged or performed by both Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which are no less outrageous than what the former said last week.
These include recent attacks against trucks delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by extreme right-wing activists, who are not stopped by the police, who Ben-Gvir controls.
Or Smotrich’s illegal decision not to pass tax money to the Palestinian Authority, which the Israeli authorities collect in Israel on behalf of the PA.
It is no secret that Netanyahu is a prisoner-by-choice of the two leaders of his extreme-right coalition partners, without whose support (14 Knesset seats) he will lose his all-Right government, in all likelihood ending his political career.
Even Netanyahu’s greatest critics do not believe that he necessarily supports the extreme positions of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Of course he realizes that their statements and deeds are the cause of many of Israel’s legal problems abroad.
Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that Netanyahu will ever voluntarily declare “enough is enough,” and that for the sake of Israel’s welfare, and even for the sake of its continued existence, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich should be freed from their ministerial positions or ousted from the government and sent to the opposition benches.
Is Netanyahu even aware that the continuation of the current situation ensures that he will go down into history as Israel’s most controversial and ruinous leader ever?
Does he realize that his boastful autobiography, which he published just before the last elections, is rapidly turning into little more than a sad joke?
The impression is that he sincerely believes he is not to blame for anything – not even for the disastrous events of October 7; rather everyone else is responsible.
Every Friday morning I walk from the Nayot neighborhood where I live in Jerusalem to Gaza Road for my weekend shopping.
The Netanyahus’ private apartment, which serves as a temporary official residence (until the state-owned Prime Ministers’ Residence on Balfour Street, just up the road, will finally be renovated), is situated on Gaza Street.
Most Fridays the Netanyahus are away at their second private residence – a villa in Caesarea – for the weekend, and besides one or two bored guards, who stand around the empty residence in Jerusalem, life along the Gaza Street runs smoothly.
The last few weekends the Netanyahus appear to have remained in Jerusalem, for some undisclosed reason. At least a dozen guards nervously roamed around the residence, while a large section of Gaza Street was blocked to traffic. Pedestrians were the only ones on this usually bustling street.
Why am I describing this rather mundane reality? Because it seems to represent a sharp contrast to everything else in Netanyahu’s life these days, and to the total havoc the state is in.
The writer worked in the Knesset for many years as a researcher. She has published extensively both journalistic and academic articles on current affairs and Israeli politics. Her most recent book, Israel’s Knesset Members – A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job, was published by Routledge.