The last week has been an anatomy of a spiraling brawl between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
First, there was the “hot mic” moment last week in which Biden, in an incident that many thought was scripted, was heard telling politicians that he wanted to have a “come to Jesus meeting” with Netanyahu.
That was followed by Biden’s attack on Netanyahu on Sunday, when during an interview with MSNBC he said the Israeli Prime Minister “is hurting Israel more than helping Israel... it is contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake.”
On Monday a US Intelligence Assessment report speculated that Netanyahu could be overthrown. In speaking about that report before a Senate committee CIA Director William Burns said, “I worry that Netanyahu’s conduct in the war threatens to undermine support for Israel in the long term including in the US.”
A senior Israeli official responded by accusing the Biden admiration of attempting to overthrow Netanyahu’s government.
On Thursday, in a prolonged speech before the Senate, its Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for new elections to replace Netanyahu charging that he was an obstacle to peace and arguing that he and his “extremist government” cannot remain in place once the war winds down.
He even appeared to hint at conditioning military aid, a sentiment once expressed only by politicians on the left-wing flank of the Democratic Party, such as Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT).
It was a speech that vastly expanded the narrative to one that extended beyond Netanyahu and Biden, to include the entire Democratic Party.
That Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish politician, a centrist within the party, and an avid Israel supporter, made the blow even harsher.
Israeli outcry falls flat
Israeli politicians were quick to decry US interference in the democracy of one of its closest allies, a tried and true refrain used for such moments.
It fell someone flat, however, in light of the impact Israel’s policies are having both on antisemitism in the US and the upcoming US Presidential elections.
One could see Schumer’s speech within the context of US domestic politics, as a sign of how nervous the Democratic Party is about retaining the White House in November and the impact the Gaza war could have on Biden’s reelection chances versus his adversary, former US president Donald Trump.
One could even see it as the start of the Democratic messaging, now that Trump and Biden this week have clinched enough support to become their party’s presumptive nominees.
Opponents of the Gaza war in America often refer to it as “Netanyahu’s war,” scapegoating him as the cause of the conflict rather than Hamas.
Netanyahu, who was already at odds with Biden and the Democratic Party over his judicial policies before the war, had already been viewed as a person-non-grata in Washington.
Now it appears that instead of turning Israel into a pariah, they are turning him into one.
Once Netanyahu’s biggest problem was that he didn’t have a Washington invite, now it is that the Democrats are being blunt about wanting to overthrow him.
Democrats will explain to their voters that they support Israel, not its government and that if needed, they will not hesitate to show Israel some tough love.
It’s a message that of course plays well for Republicans who have historically embraced Netanyahu, known for his strong relationship with Trump.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) called Schumer’s comments “inappropriate” and “offensive.”
Republicans who were expected to campaign on strong support for Israel, now have extra fodder for their arguments.
Those who worried about the interplay between the Gaza war and the US elections, now have seen the opening act of what will likely be an increasingly contentious Democratic-Republican rift over Israel.
The Gaza war and the ensuing Israeli-US diplomatic battles over it will likely make or break the political careers of politicians on both sides of the ocean and both sides of the aisle in Washington.
But when the dust has settled and the election season is over, the overall Israeli-American relationship will have taken a hit. Those ties are strongest when Israel remains a bipartisan issue.
This week’s drama is a warning shot across the bow, of how a raucous and fateful election could create a Jerusalem-Washington crisis.