Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Netanyahu and Conservative Majority Out

As I blogged on May 28, Bibi Netanyahu’s international political capital was running out. His American partners – the Trump administration and the Republican Congress – were, as of January 20, out of power. The Biden administration is much more interested in human rights and allies’ opinions. They put the Iran deal back in play. And while the Hamas war was decided mostly in Israel’s favor on the ground, it was largely lost in U.S. and international political opinion. It significantly contributed to the growing split in the Democratic Party and among younger, more educated voters away from the Israeli position vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

Although Netanyahu’s loss of power is mostly related to internal Israeli politics, such as the desire to avoid a fifth election (4 previous in last 2 years) and simply removing Netanyahu from office (under serious corruption charges), he, in fact, was no longer an asset for Israel’s foreign policy.

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