Netanyahu compared it to Pearl Harbor and 9/11,
and the Biden administration has understandably embraced that,
However, this worn-out argument has unleashed a beast that
is undermining US interests and failing to secure Israel in the long run.
Netanyahu is switching from one front to the other: Gaza,
the West Bank, Lebanon, and Yemen with no internal or external constraint on
his actions and the disproportional killing of civilians.
The Biden administration has initially advised Israel to
agree on a ceasefire in Gaza and move to the second level of targeting Hamas
commanders.
Netanyahu did neither; instead, he initiated another
conflict in Lebanon with a death toll exceeding 1,000 since September
23, where not more than 3% of them were Hezbollah commanders.
Netanyahu’s discourse and policies are putting the Middle
East in a perpetual security competition where Israel does whatever is
necessary to ensure its self-defense while maximizing its force with an
ambitious agenda to change “the balance of power in the region for
years.”
It was enough to watch Netanyahu’s speech at the United
Nations General Assembly to detect an egomaniacal discourse that is taking both
Israel and the US on a dangerous path.
This overconfidence in Netanyahu’s discourse would not have
existed without the air power dominance that the US provides, the Biden
administration has yet to use this leverage of military aid to constrain
Netanyahu.
The US is now perceived as complicit with Netanyahu or unable
to influence a key ally.
Beyond the immediate ecstasy of killing Hezbollah and Hamas
leaders, Netanyahu has no clear plan or exit strategy, neither in Gaza nor
Lebanon.
The Biden administration is enabling a bully by providing
the tools and protection.
The excessive use of force will not secure the long-term
stability of Israel nor sustain a moral and effective US global leadership.
Iran’s strategy for a year at least has been to intimidate
the US military so Washington can exercise enough pressure on Netanyahu to
agree on a ceasefire in Gaza, which was the safest path for the Iranian regime
to avoid a direct confrontation with Israel.
The Biden administration has conveyed a clear message to
Tehran not to attack American assets on the assumption that the US is committed
to Israel’s security but is not directly involved in the conflict in Gaza and
beyond.
It seems Netanyahu is pulling the US into a regional
conflict rather than maintaining the stance from the first Iranian attack last
April when Washington acted as a global leader managing the conflict between
two regional powers. The US wants Iran to stay idle as Israel goes after its
proxies one after the other.
Dealing with the threats of the Iranian regime and its
proxies requires a long-term strategy because mass killing would only produce a
radical generation in Gaza, Lebanon, and beyond.
Guaranteeing the silence of Arab autocrats is not enough to
secure a long-term resolution of the Arab conflict with Israel.
In an insightful analysis in Foreign Affairs,
Richard Haas argued, “America needs a playbook for difficult friends” and that
Washington should have an independent policy when it disagrees with an ally as
a subtle way to show objection without damaging the relationship.
The US should claim back its leadership role in the Middle
East and send a clear signal that there is daylight between American and
Israeli interests and that the US commitment to Israeli security is not a blank
check.
The Biden administration’s blind support for Netanyahu is
unprecedented and setting a dangerous precedence.
The damage to US image and interests in the Middle East
should not be underestimated, and the long-term game is the most effective one;
there are no quick fixes to the threats of the Iranian regime and its proxies.
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