Netanyahu’s Lashing out at Biden is Ungrateful and a Strategic Failure

By Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead | April, 2024

Photo: Haim Zach, GPO

The United States is Israel’s only true ally, and Joe Biden is the friendliest president to Israel in history. There is no strategic logic to lashing out at him, and one can only suspect that petty domestic politics are coming in lieu of a strategy that is crucial to Israel’s security and future

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unprecedented berating of U.S. President Biden is an extreme manifestation of ingratitude and a first-rate strategic failure. The United States is Israel’s only true ally, and Joe Biden is the friendliest president to Israel in history. There is no strategic logic to lashing out at him and at Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and one can only suspect that petty domestic politics are coming in lieu of a strategy that is crucial to Israel’s security and future.

In his many years in office, Netanyahu had previously initiated a head-on collision with an American president, and that mistake has cost Israel dearly. Indeed, the Israeli Prime Minister had been right to recognize the threat posed by Iran a quarter of a century ago, swearing to eliminate it, and justifiably so. However, since then, and particularly over the last 12 years, he has been repeating grave errors in policy that have left Israel weak vis-à-vis the Iranian threat. These days, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a nuclear threshold state that, subject to nothing other than its own decision to do so, can develop nuclear weapons within a short timeframe – a development likely to launch a nuclear arms race in the ME that would provide a defense umbrella for all terror organizations, from Hizballah on Israel’s northern border to the Houthis in Yemen. The roots of this state of affairs lie in Netanyahu’s initiative in 2011, which has since been revealed, to attack Iran without strategically coordinating this military operation with the United States and its president at the time, Barack Obama. Moreover, Netanyahu had humiliated President Obama needlessly when he addressed Congress and spoke against the nuclear deal with Iran without coordinating his speech with the U.S. President. As a result, the United States signed the JCPOA with Iran behind Israel’s back and, although this was not a good agreement, President Trump’s decision, following Netanyahu’s prompting, to pull out of it several years later, had turned the situation into the worst one imaginable. Free of the restraints dictated by the agreement, Iran decided to advance its weapons-grade nuclear program to its current dangerous threshold.

On that cursed Saturday, October 7, the United States had saved Israel, allowing the IDF to get back on its feet, and deliver fierce blows to Hamas. But Netanyahu’s announcement of the complete victory strategy soon followed, doomed to fail and erode the IDF’s achievements as it ignores Israel’s alliance with the United States. Washington is offering Jerusalem a dream bundle, consisting of a strategic axis based on the large Arab countries – headed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Abraham Accords states – that integrates Israel into a regional military alliance under its leadership. It further offers a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, generously financed by the Gulf states, whereas in the absence of a rehabilitated Gaza or authentic Palestinian leadership, Israel could be dragged into direct occupation of a distressed and disaster-stricken Gaza.

Moreover, if Israel has any desire to enable the many thousands of its northern residents to return to their homes, it has two options: A full-scale conflict with Hizballah, the strategic cost of which is extremely high, and during which it will not be helped by the United States; or improved security arrangements based on an upgraded version of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, pushing the Redwan Force beyond the Litani River. The IDF’s accomplishments in southern Lebanon are extremely important, but if no political steps will be taken to complement them, there will be no end in sight, and the residents will not be able to return to their homes.

Furthermore, entering Rafah could be detrimental to Israel’s special relations with the United States and Egypt, for, despite the necessity to do so from a military perspective, such a step is impossible unless coordinated with both countries. As a pioneer of peace, Egypt will pave the way for Israel to forge vitally important relations with leading Arab countries in future, including on military and economic levels; whereas the United States will continue to provide Israel with an economic, political, legal, and security-related steel dome. However, if the fractures and insults persist, this dome could crack. The verse “lo, the people shall dwell alone” is all well and good, but it does not suit a small country such as Israel, and it is unfortunate that some people fail to understand that.

Netanyahu must set the return of the hostages alive as a top priority. Israel can translate the IDF’s feats in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon into strategic gains that will strengthen its future and national security. However, adhering to the complete victory strategy and failing to coordinate with Washington will compromise the pursuit of these goals. The time has come for strategic wisdom based on our remarkable military achievements.

Authored by Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead, head of the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS), Reichman University.

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