New Israeli Prime Minister has discussions with the White House—with few prospects for the Palestinians
By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
Israeli Prime Minister Bennet arrived in Washington last week to remake the U.S.-Israel relationship following the Trump-Netanyahu years of bias totally favoring Israel. Bennett’s one ‘concession’ to Biden was that he would not attempt to annex the West Bank. Because Bennet controls the Knesset by only one vote, he is in no position to make big promises anyway, but he has no intention of doing anything for the Palestinians, given his animosity towards them and his extreme anti-peace and anti-state stance.
Biden and Naftali Bennett attempt restart of U.S.-Israel relations in post-Netanyahu period
New Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet came to Washington last week to meet with President Biden to reset the U.S.-Israel alliance. This followed a more tumultuous period of U.S.-Israel relations during the Trump presidency when the former president gave in to much of what former prime minister Netanyahu wanted to secure his own position and to drive Israel even further to the political right. Bennet’s meeting was postponed a day because of the tragic bombing of U.S. servicemen and Afghans at the Kabul airport.
In their meeting, Biden voiced the usual platitudes of U.S. support for Israel. He pledged, according to the Washington Post, unwavering support for Israel: “The U.S. will always be there for Israel. It’s an unshakeable partnership between our two nations.” Biden noted further, “I have known every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir, gotten to know them fairly well, and I look forward to us establishing a strong personal relationship.”
Both leaders seemed to set aside their rather large differences over the international nuclear agreement with Iran, which Biden is wedded to. They also disagree strongly on the President’s right of the Palestinians to their own, independent state. These disagreements were left out of the public comments by the two leaders, as well as any allusion to the conflict Netanyahu stirred among Republicans in gaining their support for a more Zionist version of Israel.
Under the Biden regime, liberal Democrats have been vocal in their criticisms of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Because of the increasing encroachment of Israeli settler communities of Palestinian lands and Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, the Democrats have called for downgrading and the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Bennet’s ‘concession’ to Biden
Prior to his trip to Washington, Bennett made a public statement that as the new prime minister, he would not attempt to annex the West Bank. That would be his one ‘concession’ to Biden. But he also averred that he would not allow the occupied territory to become a sovereign Palestinian state.
Because Bennet controls the Knesset by only one vote, he is in no position to make big promises. Besides, his coalition is based on the highly tenuous inclusion of a Palestinian Islamist party—the only way he could obtain enough votes to overturn the Netanyahu 12-year regime. While Bennett has very conservative views, perhaps even to the right of Netanyahu, he must govern as a centrist considering his tenuous coalition.
In some ways, Bennet’s anti-Palestinian stance coincides with Biden’s reticence to get involved in a broad peace agreement that would realign the Middle East, including the formation of a sovereign state belonging to the Palestinians. Biden is reluctant to push for this and has only proposed more manageable goals of reducing never-ending conflicts between the Israelis and Palestinians. He has bigger fish to fry in China and Russia.
But Bennett doesn’t buy Biden’s reluctance, noting in his farewell to the President, “We trust in your support, Mr. President, and Israel knows that we have no better or more reliable ally in the world than the United States of America.”
The ‘real’ Naftali Bennett
Even before Bennett’s visit to the White House, he was accused of being anti-Palestinian and anti-peace. A Palestinian ministry official, quoted in The Jerusalem Post, declared “It’s clear that Bennett is trying to create confusion in order to influence the priorities of the US foreign policy with the purpose of marginalizing the Palestinian issue.” Palestinians denounced Bennett, indicating they expected nothing out of this first visit of the new prime minister and President Biden.
It’s not like any of Bennett’s anti-Palestinian rhetoric was unknown prior to his election to the prime minister. According to The Guardian, “The Former leader of Jewish settler group is infamous for making incendiary comments about Palestinians…and has spent decades promoting settlement expansion and a permanent grip over Palestinian land.” More frightening is another quote from the same source, namely, “Bennett’s unabashed pro-settler, biblically inspired zeal would bring the country into a new era.”
Having served in the Israeli Defense Force, Bennett is known for his violent attitude towards Palestinian fighters, captured in the phrase “shoot to kill.” He has purportedly suggested that Israel should kill all captured fighters and even bragged that he had “already taken the lives of many Arabs without regret.”
There is little chance that during Bennett’s regime there will be any significant White House effort to reignite Israeli peace talks with the Palestinians. But because Bennett will try to appease the Biden folks, the new prime minister may introduce some low-level security actions that look like they’re helping Palestinians, which will only amount to window-dressing.
Sources:
“Biden, Bennett open new chapter in U.S.-Israel relations with White House visit,” Washington Post, 8/27/2021
Palestinians: Bennett exposed his ‘anti-peace’ policy,” Jerusalem Post, 8/26/2021
“Naftali Bennett: Israel’s far-right prime minister in waiting,” The Guardian, 6/3/2021
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He did fieldwork in an east Libyan Saharan oasis and has taught at the University of Libya-Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo. John served with the United Nations as an advisor in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID, the UN, and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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