“Be careful what you wish for,” said Aesop long ago.
Too many Israelis - politicians, journalists, and civilians - are concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu has yet to be invited to the White House. It is widely, and accurately, perceived as a snub, and is being used to promote the notion that the Netanyahu government is reeling, cannot succeed, has lost international support, has alienated the US, and must be replaced. But that is just another cudgel being used by Netanyahu’s permanent, relentless enemies, and has little merit.
Like a Rorschach test, each commentator sees the snub in line with his or her own personal preferences or aversions. Netanyahu has failed to embrace the two state delusion with sufficient ardor. Netanyahu is not supportive enough of Ukraine and has reached out to China. Netanyahu is building too many “settlements,” even in Yerushalayim. Netanyahu is advancing judicial reforms that have irritated President Joe Biden and undermined democracy. And even more risibly, and recently, Netanyahu presides over the “most extreme government” in fifty years.
Let’s get real. Biden sees the government of Israel today as “extreme.” Then again, he characterizes his adversaries in Washington and elsewhere as “extreme MAGA Republicans.” He has denounced the US Supreme Court for its “extreme” decisions and composition. His administration has labeled parents who want to exercise greater control over their children’s public education and thus petition local school boards as “domestic extremists” (a Biden associate even called them “terrorists.) “Extreme” is the Biden insult of choice for each and every one of his adversaries.
Granted, Joe Biden has never been known for his extensive vocabulary and and great intellectual heft even when he was compos mentis. In his declining state, he falls back on pet phrases and cliches without giving much thought to what he is saying and their implications. For example, his criticisms of the proposed judicial reforms here are typically shallow (“a threat to democracy,” as is everything the left opposes in the US and in Israel) even though Israel is seeking a judicial system more akin to the one in the United States, including the method of judicial appointments and limitations on jurisdiction. Even worse, it is Biden who has taken to undermining the independence and legitimacy of the US Supreme Court, recently saying (in his terse and muddled way) “this is not a normal court.” That means that a US Supreme Court that applies the law rather than Biden’s own policy predilections (on affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, freedom of speech, etc.) is “not normal” and needs to be changed. His party has indeed proffered some, well, “extreme” proposals for reining in the Court’s powers, which if passed will inevitably shatter the delicate checks and balances that exist in the American political system. And yet he finds fault with Israel’s governance and legislation. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Who isn’t “extreme” in the Biden lexicon? Jew hater Ilhan Omar is not extreme, she is “beautiful.” Cory Bush, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff and others - they are not extreme. They are good Democrats, allies of Joe Biden. No Biden ally can ever be extreme, no Biden adversary can ever be anything but extreme. If Smotrich and Ben Gvir are “extremists” in the Biden world view, it is only because they stand up for Israel’s interests fearlessly and definitively - a strong hand against our enemies, the right of Jewish residence throughout the land of Israel, determined opposition to the two state delusion, and a yearning to foster the Jewishness of the Jewish state. This is all anathema to Biden, and music to the ears of the faithful Jew and proud Israeli. We should all merit being called “extreme” by Joe Biden, a clear indication that we are on the right path with values that are rooted in the Torah and that are non-negotiable.
My own sense is that there is no Biden-vitation because this is still payback for Netanyahu’s anti-Iran speech before Congress in 2015 that embarrassed Barack Obama and his Vice-President, Joe Biden. Sure, that was eight years ago, but Biden has a great memory for that, even if not for many other things. When will there be a Biden-vitation? When it suits Biden’s political purposes during the election year - and/or when he wants something from Israel. And there’s the catch.
Having lived in America most of my life until 2020, I recognize something that veteran Israelis don’t. Most White House visits of foreign leaders are not news stories in America, and most are not even covered. Visits take place almost weekly. They may be newsworthy in the visitor’s home country but they are not in America. They make the news when the leader is an adversary - summits with the leaders of Russia or China are good examples - or when some conflict between the leaders is expected. Most leaders come to the White House because they want to look good in the eyes of their countrymen for political reasons or because they want something from the United States.
Does Israel want something from the United States? Certainly, but the objectives are achievable without the pomp and pressure of a White House visit. Israel looks to America for diplomatic support in a hostile United Nations environment, which it received unequivocally in the Trump years, less so under Biden but still extant. The military assistance Israel receives from the US is fixed in a long term agreement and the funding is anyway spent entirely in America and not in Israel, so no changes there. Most importantly, Israel has turned to the US for leadership and an effective challenge to the Iranian nuclear program and there the US has fallen woefully short under Democratic administrations. With Biden poised to repeat the Obama appeasement - billions of dollars to Iran and sanctions relief in exchange for unverifiable promises from a rogue government - little is to be gained from a personal meeting. Public criticism of the Biden plan will be perceived as a “political” attack, while public support will undermine Israel’s anti-Iran position and distress Arab allies across the region. Merely restating each side’s positions and hearing Biden mumble vacuities like “all options are on the table” are not worth the transportation costs to get to Washington.
And there is a price to be paid for such a meeting. Israeli leaders are expected to arrive with “gifts” - concessions to the Palestinians in terms of prisoner releases, money in the PA coffers, or worst of all, the expectation that Israel coordinate its IDF counter-terror efforts and even its anti-Iran measures with America. These days, that is foolhardy in the extreme. There are repeated reports about how Obama sabotaged some of Israel’s preparations for an Iran conflict - and the same people who did that and served Obama now serve in the Biden administration. If sharing information in private is one goal of a White House visit, it is sensible to stay away.
The nonvitation is also a consequence of the declining support for Israel in the Democratic Party, which traces to Jimmy Carter and even Bill Clinton (who made Netanyahu’s life miserable in the Prime Minister’s first term) but primarily to the sentiments expressed by Barack Obama in 2008. Meeting with Jewish Democrats during his campaign, Obama said “I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel.” That is fair enough, but imagine the ferocious storm that would erupt if Israel’s Prime Minister ever said that “to be close friends and allies with the United States does not mean that Israel has to embrace the platform or policies of the Democratic Party.” Biden today is simply echoing Obama’s distaste for the people of Israel and their voting patterns, distancing the US from Likud while presuming to befriend an Israel that has been governed by Likud for the better part of four decades. The nonvitation is personal and should be seen, and ignored, as such.
While the aging Democrats in Congress still support Israel, that support is muted whenever it conflicts with administration goals. Biden’s harsh rhetoric towards Israel’s elected government, his disparagement of Israeli democracy (while he tramples on the norms of American democracy!), and his shameless interference in Israel’s domestic affairs and internal governance are a continuation of that Obama distaste. That contempt is mirrored in the gamesmanship over the Bidenvitation as well as the stumbling blocks Biden is placing on the road to normalization with Saudi Arabia.
There is a valuable life lesson is this as well. Sometimes the best way to get something is by not showing you really want it. Pronouncements from Israel along the lines of “there really is no need for a personal visit,” “we have constant open lines of communications,” “we are busy developing our relations with China, Russia, Africa and Europe” all signal to the Americans that a White House visit by PM Netanyahu is unnecessary and even superfluous at this time. When you show you don’t care about something you don’t have, its deprivation loses its force. You can’t hold something over someone’s head if their head is elsewhere. If and when the invitation comes during the American election year, Israel should be coy about accepting it immediately, not wanting to become embroiled in America’s political maelstrom. If an important issue arises, a phone call works just as well, and requires no strings and preparation.
Of course the Israeli media will not stop talking about the nonvitation, a convenient tool with which to disparage the prime minister. All the more reason for this government to assert that it is not seeking a Bidenvitation at all as the alliance is strong and is based on shared interests and values far more than on breaking bread, drinking coffee, posing for pictures in the Oval Office or enduring a state dinner. And the demands on Israel to have such a meeting will be extreme. It is not worth it, certainly not when Joe Biden is undermining American democracy with his incessant attacks on the US Supreme Court. Let President Herzog enjoy his visit and photo ops. He can’t concede anything, anyway.
Those who keep wishing for a Bidenvitation should be extremely careful what they wish for. And that is no fable.
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