America’s Democratic presidents have never had an easy relationship with Israel. It was only months ago that US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he “cannot continue down this road” of overhauling Israel’s judiciary in a way that weakens its power to overrule government decisions.
The relationship was already damaged by Netanyahu’s acceptance in 2015 of an invitation by Republicans to address Congress about the Iran nuclear issue, completely bypassing Barack Obama’s White House, in which Biden was vice-president.
That breach of diplomatic protocol happened when Republicans could still be relied upon to support any hardline decision by the Israeli leadership and beat down any Democrat who didn’t.
In the wake of Hamas’ attack against Israel, we’re still sorting through details that are difficult to fathom. It was a massacre of Biblical fury, not an act of self-defence.
As the nature of the attack became clear, Netanyahu’s judicial reforms vanished as an issue of concern for Biden, at least for the time being. The United States president has declared allegiance with Israel in terms as bold and clear as Ronald Reagan’s famous 1987 speech at Brandenburg Gate demanding that Moscow tear down the Berlin Wall.
While Biden has shaken off the legitimate grievances he had against Netanyahu, we see no unity on the issue from the Republican Party: formerly a global force for good when it came to facing down terrorists and authoritarians, the party has been extensively re-engineered by some twisted ideological retrovirus.
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Protesters on both sides of Israel-Hamas conflict flood streets around the world
Protesters on both sides of Israel-Hamas conflict flood streets around the world
Instead of standing alongside Biden to denounce the bloodiest terrorist attack since September 11, Republicans are engaged in a civil war that has left them leaderless in the House of Representatives, which must function in order to approve military support for Israel.
We should not expect a resolution soon. The party’s right flank is now powerful enough to make Ohio congressman Jim Jordan – one of former president Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters – the nominee for the speakership, but it doesn’t have the votes to get him the gavel. These Republicans will hold the House hostage as they keep trying.
In the absence of House leadership, we’re left with Trump representing the Republican position. True to form, he used the spectacle of human butchery to promote himself and denigrate Netanyahu for … The details really aren’t even necessary because we’re talking about a man who has called American soldiers “losers” for winding up as prisoners of war and white supremacists “fine people” after a woman was run over in a car and killed by one of them.
Spitting in the faces of victims is one of the former president’s most deployed tactics in his efforts to sow chaos and turn America’s democracy into something more like Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Nikki Haley, second or third behind Trump in the latest polling for next year’s election, has been the most vocal in support of Israel, but she is known to change positions depending on the day. She railed against Trump in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 insurrection that the former president is accused of leading, but then threw her support behind him when it became clear that the majority of Republicans didn’t share her outrage.
The Republican Party is so far not considering the choice it will need to make with respect to China – a country it demonises on every front, regardless of whether the threat is real – and the Chinese government that instinctively defends Palestine’s cause.
There is a very strategic reason that Beijing refuses to condemn Hamas. They know that Israel’s efforts to eliminate the militant group will be a brutal, long-term effort that will gradually erode the slack many countries had cut to Netanyahu in the wake of the October 7 assault.
As news of displacement, hunger and thirst in Gaza accumulates, Beijing will be in a position to lead condemnation of Netanyahu’s campaign to eradicate Hamas, along with the United Nations and many other countries. We should expect Russia and Iran to pile on.
Biden is already facing a backlash from some Democrats against his no-questions-asked support for Israel. This is no surprise. The president’s party has never been fully aligned on whose side to take in the Middle East, and never will be.
From a coldly calculating perspective, the current crisis should be a foreign policy opportunity for the Republicans, but they are too wracked by internal strife to see the stark choice their party will face: support Biden, who will find it difficult to back away from his declared allegiance with Netanyahu, or stand with Beijing, Tehran and Moscow.
Robert Delaney is the Post’s North America bureau chief
