In his November 18 Knesset speech, Netanyahu bid farewell to President Biden, yet not before settling scores over the bitterness he felt Biden had caused him over the past year. On one hand, Netanyahu is fully aware that without Biden, he—and Israeli society as a whole—would not be standing on their feet today. It is no secret that on October 7, he was overcome by panic; he disappeared, his vociferous government fell silent, and the Israeli society felt leaderless. Ten days later, Biden arrived in Jerusalem to fill the leadership void and offer hope to Israeli citizens.
However, shortly thereafter, the United States decided to micro manage the war from afar and actively worked to bring about political change in Israel. For Biden, Netanyahu became the main obstacle to peace. “He’s lost his way,” wrote Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, asserting that Netanyahu must be replaced. Yet in the meantime, Biden is on his way out, Schumer is no longer the Senate majority leader, Donald Trump has achieved a resounding victory, and Netanyahu’s political horizon has reopened wide.
Now, in the Knesset, Netanyahu chose to publicly air his grievances, unafraid of an American response. He enumerated what he viewed as the sins of the U.S. administration:
“The United States objected to entering Gaza City, to entering Al-Shifa Hospital, to entering Khan Yunis, but most of all, they strongly opposed entering Rafah. Not only did they oppose it, but President Biden told me, ‘If you enter, you’ll be on your own.’ He said even more than that—he said he would stop arms shipments, including specific weapons that are very important to us. And that’s exactly what happened. A few days later, Secretary of State Blinken appeared and reiterated the same points. I told him in a broad forum: ‘Tony, if we have to, we will fight with our fingernails.’”
This is why the Israeli right has no real reason to celebrate. Israel needs a functional United States, not an unpredictable country that cannot be relied upon.
There was nothing new in Netanyahu’s words—they were already known—but this was the first time they were publicly expressed by the Prime Minister of Israel, a country entirely dependent on U.S. support.
Netanyahu’s reckoning with Biden was accompanied by an equally sharp critique of Israel’s legal authorities. Behind Netanyahu’s demand to investigate leaks from the military and the cabinet lies a strong desire to dismiss the Attorney General, Gali Baharav Miara, who heads the public prosecution. The prosecution’s refusal to grant Netanyahu’s request to delay his testimony in his upcoming corruption trial and the court’s decision requiring him to testify at the beginning of December have backed him into a corner. None of this would have occurred had he succeeded in carrying out his judicial overhaul: changing the Supreme Court composition, granting the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court rulings, and passing any law he deems necessary to cement his position.
Netanyahu gazes wistfully at Trump, who has risen from the ashes and transformed into an all-powerful figure overnight. Trump controls all branches of government—the presidency, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court. Trump’s campaign was utterly insane in every sense of the word. He rallied dubious figures to his side, such as Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy, whose common denominator is their disdain for the establishment and willingness to wage all-out war against the “enemy within.” If Netanyahu had the power Trump now enjoys, he would crown his son Yair as his successor and send the legal, security, and media establishments packing.
But Trump is not Netanyahu, and the United States is not Israel. What happens in Israel will affect its citizens and its Arab neighbors, while what happens in the United States will impact 350 million Americans and an additional seven billion people around the world. Trump is not returning to correct the injustices of a ruthless capitalist system, as many of his supporters believe, but to ignite a true revolution and upend the status quo. His driving forces are anger over his loss in the previous election, a desire for revenge against the legal establishment that prosecuted him, and against Congress, which impeached him twice—once for abuse of power and a second time for incitement to insurrection.
Trump despises the media for exposing his lies; he hates the medical establishment for siding with science against his conspiracy theories; he loathes the military establishment for remaining loyal to the American Constitution instead of pledging allegiance to him as leader; and he views academia as a breeding ground for “woke” culture corrupting American youth. He paints Biden’s America in distorted terms, claiming millions of immigrants are preying on pets, committing assaults, and stealing. He promises to fix it all, to deport immigrants, and to lower prices. This, he says, will make America great again.
However, reality is far removed from Trump’s delusions. He begins his second term with excellent macroeconomic indicators: low unemployment, controlled inflation, a thriving stock market, and flourishing worker pensions—all thanks to the very institutions on which he has declared war. You can fire the entire military leadership, unleash the Department of Justice against its critics, censor the press, curtail voting rights, dismantle health insurance, eliminate regulatory health agencies, and slash university budgets. Such a plan guarantees chaos. It would destroy the U.S. as a military superpower and as a leader in scientific, medical, and academic innovation. This path mirrors the models of Turkey, Russia, and Hungary—systems that promise perpetual rule but come with poverty, suppression of free speech, and economic and scientific stagnation.
The United States undoubtedly needs change, and Trump’s rise and the overwhelming support he enjoys are proof of that. His re-election underscores the dysfunction of the current system: a cumbersome, undemocratic electoral process; a Supreme Court and legal establishment selected on political tendency rather than merit; capital dominating politics to its extreme advantage; a privatized healthcare system that failed in the face of COVID-19; and the absence of public housing and a social safety net, which condemns working people to poverty. America indeed needs a social and constitutional revolution—but one that preserves democracy and safeguards civil rights. No good will come from the chaos, destruction, and upheaval that Trump is leading it toward.
This is why the Israeli right has no real reason to celebrate. Israel needs a functional United States, not an unpredictable country that cannot be relied upon. Despite the tensions between Netanyahu and the Biden administration, they managed to coordinate efforts against Iran and its proxies and mediated to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon. Israeli academia relies heavily on collaboration with American academia. Every Israeli medical drug and invention require FDA approval, an agency Trump wants to dismantle. Fighting the next pandemic will be impossible without American vaccines, and if the American economy takes a hit, Israeli companies will be among the first to suffer.
A dysfunctional United States is a threat to the world, especially to nations wholly dependent on its economy and military. It might be possible to annex the occupied Palestinian territory, attempt another judicial overhaul, or mimic Trump’s actions, but the result would be disastrous for Israeli society as a whole. While the future is hard to predict, Trump’s new appointments promise a turbulent and unpredictable path ahead. He will provoke the anger of millions of Americans from all walks of life who will be directly harmed by the disfunction of a failed government.
The million Americans who died from COVID-19 and the January 2021 attack on the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power are stark reminders of the painful price a nation pays for the unchecked egotism of a leader consumed by delusions of grandeur.
In Israel, the people must hold accountable those responsible for the catastrophe of October 7. That stain will not be erased by Trump, nor will he be able to pardon Netanyahu as he pardoned himself.
Leave a Reply