The Biden administration has begun waging a very public diplomatic war on Israel. After first pledging staunch support for Israeli war aims of eliminating Hamas, the White House now seems to be the terrorists’ last, best hope for survival.
The Israel-shaming effort kicked off in earnest with Senator Chuck Schumer’s speech several weeks ago criticizing Israel’s government and calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be ousted as an “obstacle to peace.” President Biden praised the speech even as Schumer was walking it back.
The diplomatic blows escalated in short order. The US abstained on a UN Security Council resolution calling for a Ramadan ceasefire in Gaza, which made no specific mention of Hamas or the Israeli hostages. Sanctions waivers netted Iran upwards of $10 billion. The White House called a planned Israeli move into Hamas stronghold Rafah a “red line,” demanded a “two state solution” in Gaza, shamed Israel for an accidental attack on aid workers, called for an immediate ceasefire without regard to ongoing sensitive negotiations (effectively siding with Hamas), and threatened unspecified major policy changes unless the Jewish State complied. All of this weakens Israel, gives confidence to Hamas, emboldens Iran, and makes the Gaza war more difficult to prosecute, much less win.
Publicly chastising Israel is simply bad diplomacy. But this is not the first time the US has sought to pressure its primary Middle East ally during a difficult struggle. In dealing with Israel, President Biden should ask himself what many Americans do in times of crisis: What Would Reagan Do?
Look back to 1982. Israel invaded Lebanon after a series of incidents initiated by PLO terrorists. "Operation Peace for Galilee" was launched June 6, and by June 14 the IDF had surrounded Beirut and put it under siege.
As with Gaza, this was a hard fight in complex urban terrain filled with noncombatants, which the terrorists used as human shields. Israel came under criticism for using US-supplied indiscriminate cluster munitions. The Reagan administration was upset with the optics, especially after the Associated Press circulated a graphic image in August of a severely wounded Lebanese child.
Washington had dispatched special envoy Philip Habib to negotiate a ceasefire through Lebanese intermediaries. But concerted Israeli attacks stymied negotiations. So President Reagan got on the phone with Prime Minister Menachem Begin for a serious conversation. “I told [Begin] it had to stop or our entire future relationship was endangered,” the President recorded in his diary. He deliberately described what was happening as a “holocaust” and said “the symbol of his war was becoming a picture of a 7 month old baby with its arms blown off.” This echoes President Trump’s recent observations that Israel is losing the PR war on Gaza and needs to finish the conflict quickly.
Begin agreed to the ceasefire. In fact, Israel had anticipated Reagan’s demands and implemented it even before the phone call arrived. And while the exchange with the Prime Minister was as serious as any taking place now, the Reagan White House did not broadcast all the details about the call afterwards, simply saying the president “used frank and straightforward language.” There was no pointed presidential press availability, no threatening Begin’s premiership, no repeatedly embarrassing Israel in the middle of a war. It was diplomacy done the right way, and it was effective.
But not everyone was so diplomatic. Weeks after the conflict began Begin was in the US before the Senate Foreign Relations committee. A Democratic Senator took Begin to task, pounding the table and threatening that Israel must comply with US demands or aid would be cut. It was an unprecedented dressing down of a foreign leader on an official diplomatic mission.
Begin would have none of it. “Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid,” he said. “It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”
And, of course, the Senator to whom Begin was responding was Joe Biden.
Senator Paul Tsongas (D-MA) said he had “never seen such an angry session with a foreign head of state.” But when Begin came out of the conference room he was actually amused by it all. “I enjoyed the session very much,” he said. “It was a lively discussion. If you want to use other adjectives. ...'' He paused, then said, “Lively is enough.”
Benjamin Netanyahu surely remembers what Begin said to Biden in 1982; Netanyahu was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy at the time so he may even have been in the hearing room. Like Begin, he will resist being threatened, especially in public. He may also understand that Biden is being forced by progressives in his party to continue the diplomatic campaign against Israel generally, and Netanyahu specifically. So, in that respect he recognizes this is all part of the American political game.
But unfortunately, this game has wider repercussions. Every public push against Israel gives Hamas hope. Every sign of weakened American resolve is music to Tehran’s ears. Every call for unconditional ceasefire condemns Israeli hostages to continued captivity, rape, and torture. And pressuring Israel to compromise its primary war aim of destroying Hamas tells American adversaries and allies alike that our country will not back its friends. When the going gets tough, Washington caves. The architects of failure in Afghanistan have yet to learn that lesson.
Even Mohammed Mustafa, the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, publicly castigated Hamas, blamed them for the war, denounced their ties to Iran, criticized their corruption, hypocrisy and lavish lifestyles of their leaders in Qatar. It is a sad day when the Palestinian Authority has better anti-terrorist talking points than the White House.
American public messaging should focus on the real obstacle to peace. Only a month ago,
President Biden said in his State of the Union speech, “Israel has a right to go after Hamas. Hamas [could end] this conflict by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for October 7th.” This was the right message, but it has been lost in the noise. The White House should take a lesson from President Reagan and turn down the volume.
James S. Robbins is the Dean of Academics at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC.
Read Full Article »