Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in Washington on Monday amid historic political turmoil. He is scheduled to meet with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and address a divided Congress amid fears of a growing regional war in the Middle East.
The Israeli prime minister’s visit will come just a day after Biden withdrew from the presidential race, and will be a major test of Biden’s ability to project US influence and contain Israel in the final years of his term.
Netanyahu will be forced to walk a fine line as he balances between Donald Trump’s Republican Party and a reinvigorated Democratic campaign that may unite behind the vice president, Kamala Harris.
Speaking to reporters from the tarmac at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, Netanyahu said he was scheduled to go to the US because “Israel is at war on seven fronts and there is great political uncertainty in Washington.”
He added, “I will work to solidify the bipartisan support that is so important to Israel.”
Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden and Harris, as he comes under pressure from the highest levels of the Israeli military and much of the Israeli public to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. He is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, where he was invited by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Also read: The Iran-Israel Shadow War is getting hotter
The two leaders have had a strained relationship and Netanyahu is seen as waiting for Biden’s administration to end for a second Trump term. But Biden’s exit from the campaign creates new uncertainty for the election, and could embolden Biden during talks with Netanyahu, analysts and insiders in Washington say.
“I actually think the announcement puts him in a stronger position, because the likelihood of policy continuity into a Democratic administration is more likely now,” said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
But while the Israeli prime minister’s arrival in Washington could smooth the way to a ceasefire deal, his critics worry Netanyahu will use the visit to seek support to continue and perhaps even expand fighting in what has become Israel’s longest war.
Read also: Biden Calls Netanyahu’s Cabinet Most Conservative in Israeli History
“Netanyahu wants to speak in the US over the heads of Congress and go far beyond Joe Biden to Donald Trump, who has previously called Netanyahu a weak leader,” said Gershon Baskin, a former Israeli hostage negotiator.
The Israeli leader will deliver a message of support to Trump, anticipating a possible return to the White House, looking for ways to sustain Israel’s military action in Gaza in return, Baskin said.
A senior European diplomat said hopes for a ceasefire deal were limited. “His own political life is tied to this war in Gaza,” the diplomat said. “I think in that sense, some of the conflict has to continue.”
Read also: Israeli Defense Minister Yoac Gallant Goes to Washington to Discuss Conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah
Netanyahu’s office released a photo of him on board a government plane shortly after his departure, sitting next to a blue hat embroidered with the words “total victory.”
Several of those held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza and freed during previous hostage deals are expected to travel with Netanyahu to Washington.
Their decision to do so has raised controversy for relatives of some of the 116 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, who last week asked former hostage Noa Argamani not to fly with Netanyahu “as decoration.”
The Israeli leader claims that only military pressure will free the remaining hostages, while 70% of Israelis believe Netanyahu is responsible for failing to secure a deal, according to a poll released the night before his departure for Washington.
Israeli protesters and even the military chief have called for a deal with Hamas that would release hostages in exchange for a lull in fighting. Negotiators from Israel’s Mossad intelligence service are expected in Qatar later this week, resuming talks that have dragged on since early this year.
Shortly after Netanyahu’s departure, the Israeli military announced that two of the hostages held by Hamas had been killed in recent months, saying it was investigating the causes of death including the possibility that at least one was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
A 17-year-old former hostage wrote on social media about 35-year-old Yagev Buchshtab, whom she described meeting briefly during their time in Hamas custody. “The state could have saved him,” she wrote.
The ceasefire deal in Gaza could also cool tensions across the region, after a drone sent by Yemen’s Houthi militants struck Tel Aviv over the weekend. Israeli forces responded with airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port.
American mediators are also working to prevent an escalation in fighting between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, which has fired rockets and drones into northern Israel, while Israeli forces have responded with a series of strikes inside Lebanese territory.
The Houthis and Hezbollah have said they will end their attacks if Israeli forces halt military action in Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid in. More than 39,000 people have been killed by Israel’s fierce offensive in the territory, amid widespread criticism of the Biden administration for supplying Israel with weapons.
Despite assurances from US officials that a deal is close, those with close knowledge of the negotiations remain skeptical, accusing Netanyahu of obstructing a deal ahead of his visit to Washington and perhaps in the longer term.
“From the ground, it doesn’t look like we’re heading towards a ceasefire,” said Nadav Weiman, deputy head of Breaking the Silence, an organization of former Israeli soldiers critical of the state.
“It doesn’t look like our prime minister wants a ceasefire or a hostage deal, because more than anything he cares about himself, and avoiding a trial. For that, he needs his right-wing coalition. He came to Congress for Benjamin Netanyahu, to see his buddy Trump, he wants an audience with him more than Biden I think.”
Netanyahu’s visit comes days after an international court ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal and that it must stop settlement construction immediately.
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, Karim Khan, filed in May for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. (The Guardian/Z-3)
#Netanyahus #Arrival #Washington #Political #Crisis #Regional #Tensions
