In the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden’s shock announcement that he won’t seek reelection, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be forced to undergo his own sort of political game theory during his U.S. trip.
WASHINGTON – Perhaps no one on Planet Earth was more inconvenienced by U.S. President Joe Biden’s shock announcement that he would step down as Democratic presidential candidate in the 2024 election than Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the days leading up to Netanyahu’s Washington visit, many observers speculated that a potential Biden announcement would wait until Netanyahu skipped town, lest the U.S. president give his long-time Israeli counterpart the satisfaction of a victory lap.
In reality however, Biden’s announcement removed virtually all momentum ahead of Netanyahu’s trip, which was delayed by several hours, and put the Israeli prime minister in the most politically complicated position he has been since Biden defeated Donald Trump in 2020.
In the hours after Biden posted his statement on X, Israeli leaders across the gamut sang Biden’s praises as a true friend of Israel who stuck with the Jewish State through thick and thin. This includes Netanyahu’s current and former political rivals like former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and current opposition leader Yair Lapid.
It also, however, includes current Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Biden administration’s preferred interlocutor in the Israeli government, who has grown increasingly emboldened in attacking Netanyahu’s decision-making in recent weeks.
Netanyahu’s praise of Biden was conspicuously absent, mirroring his failure to congratulate Biden in the hours after the 2020 election before finally acquiescing.
Netanyahu’s visit was immediately relegated to an afterthought after weeks and months of buildup. Despite Republican efforts to turn the visit into a political cudgel, with the participation of Democratic congressional leadership and the subsequent participation of the White House, Netanyahu is now the one forced to make political calculations rather than Biden.
The Israeli prime minister, undoubtedly reading the tea leaves of Biden’s political future, has endeavored to mend his relationship with Trump. The relationship was already on the outs after Netanyahu’s refusal to participate in the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and his repeated efforts at spoiling Trump’s efforts at achieving the so-called “deal of the century” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu congratulating Biden for his victory over Trump, however, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Trump, to this day, still publicly snipes at Netanyahu whenever prompted – including implicitly blaming him for the events of October 7.
Netanyahu may have declined to praise Biden on social media lest he raise Trump’s wrath and burn the bridge his network has tried to repair with increasing fervor in recent months.
Much remains unclear in the immediate aftermath of Biden’s announcement, including whether Netanyahu’s long-coveted White House meeting is still on. For one, Biden is still recuperating from COVID-19 and nearing completion of his Paxlovid cycle. The White House, however, declined to offer any public schedule for Biden in the days ahead, simply opting to state “additional details to the President’s schedule forthcoming.”
Netanyahu – who will be met with tens of thousands of protesters regardless and boycotted by dozens of Democrats – will be forced to undergo his own sort of political game theory.
Should he not endorse Biden, he will remove any semblance of bipartisanship – it would be the final nail in the coffin for any pretense that Netanyahu is not strictly an agent of the Republican Party. If he does even offer Biden the most cursory of acknowledgements for being perhaps the most significant pro-Israel Democrat in American political history, it will assuredly capture Trump’s attention.
Netanyahu’s visit may not be the national event he was anticipating, but the stakes for him personally are even higher than they were 24 hours ago.