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There is no contradiction between condemning terrorism and addressing its root causes. Both statements are true: Hamas has taken its barbaric cruelty to new heights; Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu has starved non-violent alternatives to Palestine. On Tuesday, Joe Biden movingly expressed his outrage over the first incident. He has yet to publicly acknowledge the second. The world must hope — but cannot assume — that he also makes it clear to Netanyahu that he will strongly oppose collective punishment of Palestinians.
Israel’s response poses a serious danger to the United States. In addition to the risk of conflagration in the Middle East, the United States will be blamed around the world for any excesses by the IDF. For years, Washington turned a blind eye to Netanyahu’s serial violations of the Oslo accords. New settlements in the occupied territories, the expansion of old settlements and the weakening of the Palestinian Authority have humiliated moderate Palestinians and exposed Washington as a one-sided broker.
The last time the United States attempted negotiations between the two countries was during the presidency of Barack Obama. Until half a generation ago, this was a half-hearted effort. When Netanyahu called Obama’s bluff, he folded. Donald Trump has lent his support to Netanyahu’s increasingly blatant defiance of the two-state process. Biden is acting as if the Palestinian issue no longer exists. Biden’s wishful thinking is perhaps understandable given the other geopolitical challenges he faces. Now it’s coming back to bite him. The United States can no longer turn a blind eye.
Two things have changed since Obama’s failed attempt to revive peace talks. First, Netanyahu has alienated the vast majority of Jewish Americans. Gone are the days when Israel could automatically rely on Jewish-American support. The Israeli Prime Minister is almost solely responsible for this. In 2015, he opposed the Iran nuclear deal signed by Obama in a speech to Congress, violating all agreements. With most Jewish Americans being Democrats and the American right increasingly using anti-Semitic tropes, this is a reckless gamble. Supporting Netanyahu’s Israel becomes a matter for Republicans.
Second, Israel has the most far-right government in the democratic world. Netanyahu has borrowed anti-Semitic imagery about George Soros from Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, among others. His logic that Jews were safe only in Israel gave him a twisted affinity for Western nativist groups. To most non-Israeli Jews, and about half of Israelis, Netanyahu’s ideological associates are distasteful. However, he is the most moderate member of the government he leads.
Netanyahu’s alliance with the Trump wing of U.S. politics gives Biden more room than his predecessor to play the role of an honest middleman. Every pore in Biden’s body resists doing so. Support for Israel has been a bipartisan consensus for nearly his entire political career. Exactly half a century ago, just nine months after Biden became a U.S. senator, Egypt invaded Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Just like today, Israel was found napping. Unlike today, Israel was at a disadvantage then. For ambitious Democrats, the safest space in the coming years will be year-round support for Israel. Now, that’s a controversial position — and for Biden, it’s a particularly dangerous one.
Last weekend’s massacre, designed to provoke retaliatory Israeli atrocities in Gaza, would confirm Hamas’ Manichean worldview and its claim to be the main legitimate voice of the Palestinian people. It would further weaken Fatah’s control of the occupied West Bank and foment extremism in Israel. Each ripple effect would damage America’s standing and further undermine Israel’s security. The emotional temptation is to offer unconditional support to Netanyahu’s government. Hearing stories of babies being slaughtered, it’s hard not to succumb to blind revenge. The rational position is to reject the script that Hamas wants.
Biden’s top priority is securing the release of American hostages. He has dispatched an aircraft carrier battle group to the area. But his first goal must be to break the cycle of escalating violence. Last Saturday’s killings were horrific but not surprising. As others have said, Gaza is the largest open-air prison in the world. Netanyahu has deprived Palestinians of hope for a future and a peaceful channel to express their dissatisfaction. John F. Kennedy, Biden’s original hero, said: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” Israelis and Palestinians are about to write a darker chapter in their history . Biden has a way of hijacking this playbook. This is the most pro-Israel thing he can do.
edward.luce@ft.com
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