Change in US-Israel relationship ‘inevitable’

US officials deny a change in policy, but Thomas Friedman warns it’s imminent as White House supports demonstrators and criticises Israeli extremism.

The prominent Middle East commentator has prompted a storm with a column pronouncing that the Biden administration will inevitably reassess the US relationship with Israel.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist published an opinion piece in The New York Times on Tuesday entitled “The US Reassessment of Netanyahu’s Government Has Begun”.

He wrote that a "reassessment" of US-Israel relations is inevitable” and a "necessity before [Israel] truly does go off the rails," amid the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul.

US President Joe Biden will meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog next week in Washington, having declined to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I have no doubt that the US President will arm the Israeli President with the message — out of sorrow, not anger — that when the interests and values of a US government and an Israeli government diverge this much, a reassessment of the relationship is inevitable.

I am not talking about a reassessment of our military and intelligence cooperation with Israel, which remains strong and vital. I am talking about our basic diplomatic approach to an Israel that is unabashedly locking in a one-state solution: a Jewish state only, with the fate and rights of the Palestinians T.B.D.

“Such a reassessment based on US interests and values would be some tough love for Israel but a real necessity before it truly does go off the rails. That Biden is prepared to get in Netanyahu’s face before America’s 2024 election suggests that our President believes he has the support not only of most Americans for this but of most American Jews and even most Israeli Jews," Friedman wrote. 

Friedman is a long-time supporter of Israel but a strong critic of the Netanyahu government.

He noted that the White House considers the actions by Israel's government "unprecedented radical behaviour – under the cloak of judicial reform."

“The Jewish settlers want the Supreme Court out of the way so they can create settlements all across the West Bank and easily confiscate Palestinian lands. The ultra-Orthodox want the Supreme Court out of the way so no one can tell their sons that they have to serve in the Israeli military or tell their schools that they have to teach English, math, science and democratic values. And Netanyahu wants the court out of the way so he can appoint whatever political hacks he wants to key jobs,” Friedman wrote

Friedman’s column prompted the White House to issue a statement on Wednesday, saying there is currently no talk of reassessing US-Israel ties. 

"There is no talk of some kind of formal reassessment. The United States and Israel share a special bond, and our enduring commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad," a National Security Council spokesperson said.

However, a US official told Channel 12 in Israel that Washington was certainly “worried by Netanyahu. We don’t understand where he’s headed or why he’s letting extremists in the government set the tone, while advancing judicial legislation unilaterally despite his clear promise to Biden.”

On Sunday, CNN, published an interview with President Biden in which he called Netanyahu’s government “extreme” and brushed off the possibility of inviting Netanyahu to the White House in the near future.

On Tuesday evening, the White House issued an exceptional statement calling on Israel to “protect and respect the right of peaceful assembly” and to avoid harming demonstraters in the streets, wording usually reserved for dictatorships that violently suppress protests.

Israel's ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, was unexpectedly called back to Jerusalem, arriving just one day ahead of the Biden administration's special envoy Amos Hochstein, who met on Tuesday with Netanyahu.

The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement that the two discussed “regional matters and issues tied to close cooperation between the United States and Israel.”

Even settler leader Oded Revivi, head of Efrat Council, acknowledged judicial reform and settler violence were affecting US-Israel relations.

“They perceive the reform as a tool that may hinder the prosecution of ‘Jewish rioters’ and erase incidents like Huwara.

“The fire that ignited in Huwara compromised American neutrality regarding the reform,” said Revivi, who is among the more moderate of the settler leaders.

READ MORE
The US reassessment of Netanyahu’s government has begun (Thomas Friedman, New York Times, paywall)

American, Israeli officials downplay columnist’s claim US reassessing ties with Israel (Times of Israel)

Israel's DC Ambassador holds urgent, unexpected Jerusalem visit (Haaretz)  

Settler leader: Huwara attack fuelled US anger at Israeli judicial reform (Jerusalem Post)

ANALYSIS

Israel-US ties fray as Netanyahu proceeds with judicial overhaul (Ben Caspit, Al-Monitor)

The Biden administration made it clear to Israel that the special relations between the countries are based not only on common security interests, but also on values currently not respected by the Netanyahu government.

Photo:  Happier times: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and then Vice President Joe Biden in 2016 in Davos, Switzerland (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)