Analysis | Biden Has Not Turned His Back on Israel. But Netanyahu Has. By David Rothkopf

The Netanyahu government has, almost from the very beginning of the Gaza war, pitted itself not just against Hamas but against the U.S. president. Pushing Biden to breaking point may trigger irreparable damage to the already deeply-strained U.S.- Israel relationship

Read time: 7 minutes

Right now, Israel's most effective leader is an 81-year-old Irish Catholic from Delaware.

At a time when the elected government in Jerusalem seems committed to demonstrating its incompetence in new ways almost every day, only Joe Biden has remained committed to the security and the future of the State of Israel.

He has done so despite significant opposition in the United States. He has done what he thought was in Israel's best interests whether Israel's elected officials embraced or condemned him. He has made mistakes, sometimes very significant ones. But the judgment displayed by him and his team has always stood in stark contrast to the recklessness of the Israeli prime minister and his top advisors.

Perhaps that is why the Netanyahu government has, almost from the very beginning of the current war with Gaza, pitted itself not just against Hamas but against Biden. The president has revealed time and again their defects by showing his much clearer understanding of what should be done to advance Israel's long-term interests.

He does so because those interests remain so intertwined with the interests of the country Biden was elected to lead, the United States. And he does so because, as the current crisis has revealed, Biden is, down to his marrow, a true and committed friend of Israel.

In the wake of the horrors of October 7, Biden instantly expressed his ironclad commitment to Israel. It has been heartfelt and unwavering ever since. But from the war's outset, Biden and his team have also, time and again, offered through their advice and actions an instructive counterpoint to the approaches of the Netanyahu government—a leadership roadmap that the extremist clique that is making decisions on behalf of the Israeli state has regularly ignored.

Biden and his administration have reached out to the victims of October 7, especially hostage families, with a sincere compassion and sense of urgency about their concerns that has been so lacking with Netanyahu that demonstrations in the streets of Israel regularly underscore the point.

From the very beginning of the war, even before Biden's visit in the wake of the terrorist attacks, Biden advisors like Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have urged that Israel conduct the war with great care to avoid civilian casualties and to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. Netanyahu's government clearly and repeatedly ignored the advice. They waged a war without a plan, a war of revenge with the unachievable goal of eradicating Hamas.

The result is that today, seven months later, Israel is no safer than it was when the war began and because of the blood on its hands due to the slaughter of innocents in Gaza, Israel's standing in the world is lower than it has ever been. And we have not yet begun to see how the inhumanity of the Netanyahu government's approach will produce a new generation of enemies of Israel.

Months ago, President Biden, Vice President Harris and the rest of the U.S. team urged a focus on "the day after" the war. They recognized that without a clear idea about how to rebuild Gaza, to put in place effective Palestinian leadership and develop a roadmap toward a two-state solution, there would never be an enduring end to this conflict. Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and their associates scoffed and, to this day reject this despite it being the only reasonable path forward.

Instead, we're left with Netanyahu, in an embarrassing interview with D-level U.S. media personality Dr. Phil, suggesting that Arab states – with whom he had not consulted – could come in and clean up his mess, an idea that was instantly rejected by one of those for being as unfounded as it was absurd.

Most recently, the U.S. has pushed for a cease-fire, during which proper thought could be given for reassessment and a day-after plan, in large part because the current Israeli government has no such plan. More controversially, Biden has made it clear that having been ignored for months, the U.S. would no longer support Israeli actions that were likely to produce high civilian casualties.

The withholding of a shipment of offensive weapons that could cause such casualties and Biden's statement that the U.S. could and would withhold further such shipments if Netanyahu proceeded with a major operation in Rafah, was a clear message to the Israeli 'leadership' that the U.S. now saw them and their 'plans' as one of the great imminent threats to both U.S. and Israeli interests in the region.

On cue, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted that Hamas loves Biden. Netanyahu howled. Surrogates claimed that the U.S. action would reduce leverage with Hamas.

But the U.S. has been in the middle of the negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release. They knew the degree to which it was the Israelis and not just Hamas who were resisting coming to a deal. They heard Netanyahu's promise to go ahead with operations in Rafah whether there was a cease-fire or not. (Which of course, was itself a major disincentive to Hamas to enter into any peace deal.)

Biden's decision to use the concrete leverage of withholding arms shipments gives the U.S. was, if anything, long overdue. Ben-Gvir's idiotic accusation, in the wake of the degree to which the U.S. has supported Israel – and the degree to which Netanyahu actively helped direct funding to Hamas – was indefensible.

Among the mistakes the Biden administration has made with regard to this conflict, if anything they have been too supportive of the Netanyahu administration, too muted in their criticisms or efforts to stop the egregious abuses of the Israeli leadership. As a result, the accusations of Netanyahu allies in the Republican Party also rang hollow, especially given that they had spent the past six months blocking aid to Israel and that their party leader, Donald Trump, had backed the Netanyahu effort to prop up Hamas with funding via Qatar.

No, Biden was not the one who had turned his back on Israel. That was Netanyahu. He was the man who created the conditions for October 7. He was the one who had ignored sound guidance from Biden throughout this conflict. He and his team are the ones who have nothing but carnage to show for seven months of war. He and his team are the ones not acting in the interest of Israel but rather of themselves.

Now, Netanyahu's war cabinet has responded to the Biden promise to withhold further arms if Rafah operations are expanded by gradually expanding Rafah operations. The military benefit of such expansion is unclear. But the political objective is obvious. In Rafah, on the orders of Netanyahu, the IDF is now conducting Operation Find Biden's Red Line. They want to see just how far they can push the U.S. president before the flow of all offensive weapons is cut off.

Like everything else they are doing, it is foolish, unstrategic and of no benefit to Israel. If they succeed in finding and crossing the red line, who benefits? Certainly not Israel. U.S. arms flows are important – as Israeli government complaints about cutting them off clearly demonstrate.

But worse, pushing the relationship with Israel's best friend in the world, Joe Biden, to the breaking point is likely to produce lasting and perhaps irreparable damage to the already deeply strained U.S.- Israel relationship.

An expanded operation in Rafah can only produce bad outcomes – for the U.S.-Israel relationship, for Israel's standing in the world, for the prospects for regional peace, and in human terms for the civilians of Gaza and for Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

That is why Israel's most dependable and wise leader, Joe Biden, has taken a clear stand against it. It is also probably why the incompetent mob around Netanyahu is for it.

The strength of Biden's most recent statements should cause them to reconsider. They may think he is doing what they do and responding to political pressure or self-interest in the upcoming U.S. election. Quite the contrary. He has entered territory unfamiliar to them: Real leadership where the only consideration is what is in the best interest of the country he leads and the ally he so values.

Whether they know it or not, Israel's government has reached the FAFO stage of the Netanyahu-Biden relationship. It's not a good place for Israel's current batch of elected officials to be. But, if understood for the principles behind it, this could be a turning point that should trigger the wholehearted support of people of Israel, America's real ally in all this.

David Rothkopf is a former senior U.S. government official and the author of ten books on foreign policy and politics. He is also a podcast host and CEO of The DSR Podcast Network. Twitter: @djrothkopf