Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Images
A protester holds the Israeli flag as she sits under an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 1, 2024.
It feels like we are stuck in a horrific time loop. Biden draws a red line; Netanyahu mocks it. Netanyahu professes support for a peace plan; Biden endorses it; Netanyahu then sabotages it. Biden keeps right on financing Bibi’s war crimes in Gaza, looking both complicit in barbarism and feeble as a leader, reinforcing his image as too frail for the job.
Get soaked, rinse, repeat.
And the killing goes on and on and on—the killing of Palestinian civilians, the killing of any possible regional peace agreement, the slow killing of Biden’s re-election chances, and the ominous killing of American democracy.
The most recent version of this all-too-predictable game is the worst yet, since Biden went even further out on a limb—one that Netanyahu quickly sawed off. Some of this reflects the cross-pressures of Israeli politics, but the ending is always the same: Bibi finds a reason to disavow his own supposed deal, and his financial sponsor.
On May 29, under pressure from his war cabinet, Netanyahu reluctantly agreed to a three-stage cease-fire offer that was transmitted to Hamas. In the first phase, there would be a six-week cease-fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, and a release of elderly and female hostages, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees. In phase two, all hostilities would end and all remaining hostages would be released. Phase three would be a massive reconstruction of Gaza.
But Hamas rejected the plan unless it began with a permanent end of Israeli hostilities. Biden then tried to rescue the plan by putting public pressure on both sides to accept the framework of the deal. On Friday, Biden give a major address in the White House State Dining Room, endorsing the plan, and putting the onus on Hamas to accept it.
“This is truly a decisive moment,” Biden said. “Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.” What Biden didn’t say was that Israel also needed to prove that they meant it.
Hamas reacted “positively” to Biden’s announcement. But on Saturday morning, two far-right ministers who are not in the war cabinet, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, told Netanyahu that if he went ahead with the peace process they would quit the coalition, bringing down the government. Netanyahu is unpopular in Israel, and if the government collapsed it would likely cause him to lose the election, while at the same time exposing him to a possible indictment on corruption charges.
Netanyahu’s office then renounced the plan, issuing a statement calling for total destruction of Hamas as a military and politcal force. But the statement also quietly conceded that the war cabinet indeed approved the deal that he was walking away from. He even tried to reframe the proposal as one “enabl[ing] Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu, in a tweet no less, accepted House Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation to address a joint session of Congress. This will further divide Democrats, many of whom have said they will boycott the speech.
Biden’s release of the Israeli proposal, forcing Netanyahu into an uncomfortable position, may eventually establish some framework to end the war. But all it looks like from afar is Israel’s prime minister rejecting the U.S. president in public. The only way for Biden to break this pattern of repeated humiliations is to suspend all offensive weapons aid to Israel and end the carnage, both in Gaza and in domestic U.S. politics. That will push Israel toward genuine peace negotiations, and maybe push Netanyahu out of office. While some Democratic politicians will object, most will be relieved. Democratic incumbents targeted by AIPAC will be able to say they are only supporting their president.
Will Biden at last do this? I’m still waiting for Charlie Brown to stop falling for Lucy’s game of snatching away the football.
