How the Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel are preparing to retaliate against Iran, the government Biden He increasingly appears to be a mere observer: with no knowledge of what his closest ally in the Middle East is planning and with limited influence over his decisions.
White House officials say publicly that they are working closely with their Israeli counterparts and express hope that Netanyahu will mount a “restrained” response to the barrage of missiles his country has received from Iran. According to the WSJ, citing US officials, Americans, the Israelis have told the Biden administration that they do not feel the need to attack directly or en masse.
US and Israeli officials have discussed possible targets, including Iran’s oil facilities. Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would not support an attack on nuclear facilities, but on Thursday he left open the possibility of supporting an attack on oil facilities, causing oil prices to soar.
One surprise after another
However, Israel has not made its final decision and the White House has repeatedly been caught by surprise in recent weeks. Netanyahu ordered the airstrike that killed Hassan Nasrallah from a New York hotel room as Biden administration officials fought blocks away to prevent an escalation of the situation through diplomatic means. “Netanyahu’s decision to authorize the September 27 attack from US soil, without previously notifying the White House, and then releasing a photo of the moment he gave the order, highlights the growing distance between the Israeli government and the White House”, comments the WSJ.
In the short term, Israel’s unilateral decisions to attack Iran could embroil the Biden administration in yet another unpopular regional conflict. In the long term, voices of criticism would intensify, highlighting that the US is too soft on Israel and is not using its power to restrain its ally.
In early September, White House envoy Amos Hochstein met with Israeli officials at the Israeli army shelter in Tel Aviv to urge them not to launch a large-scale operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He implored them to push for a deal that would move Hezbollah away from Israel’s northern border.
Hours after Hochstein met with Netanyahu, thousands of grenades used by Hezbollah fighters exploded across Lebanon in an unprecedented attack that killed dozens of people, including children, and injured thousands of others. The next day, walkie-talkie bombs triggered a second wave of explosions. A series of Israeli airstrikes followed, killing more than 500 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day in nearly two decades. The dead in Lebanon are now approaching 2,000.
They haven’t spoken since August Biden – Netanyahu
U.S. officials said they were not informed in advance and tried to distance themselves from the attack.
With the presidential election a month away, “Biden and his team often appear bystanders, unwilling or unable to rein in an ally they continue to support politically and provide critical military support,” the WSJ notes, adding, “Since the beginning of After the war in Gaza nearly a year ago, Biden has repeatedly called the U.S.-Israel bond unbreakable. But his nearly 50-year relationship with Netanyahu has steadily deteriorated. “Biden has not spoken personally to Netanyahu since August 21.”
“Biden and Netanyahu have gauged each other’s reactions, and Netanyahu appears to be firmly judging that he has more room than Biden thinks,” John Alterman, director of Middle East programs at the Center for International and Strategic Studies, told WSJ Studies. The US “appears to be viewed by the Israeli leadership as a whiner or a backseat passenger who does not understand the demands of the moment.”
US efforts to control Israel in Gaza have produced only limited results, analysts say. In Lebanon, Netanyahu seemed even less restrained. White House officials are unhappy with Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist group. Nor do they want, a month before the presidential elections, to give the impression that they are holding back an attack on Tehran. However, they were unable to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from expanding into a broader conflict and preventing an endless bloodbath.