After he failed to forge compromise back home, president’s visit to DC to get ties back on track winds up with American leader highlighting opposition to judicial overhaul
By LAZAR BERMAN, TOI 21 July 2023, 7:09 am
President Isaac Herzog is greeted by as he arrives to speak to a joint meeting of US Congress, July 19, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington (Chris Kleponis)
President Isaac Herzog’s task in Washington was as straightforward as it was delicate. With two dangerous fissures emerging – between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and between government and opposition supporters back in Israel – Herzog’s visit offered a timely opportunity to craft bridges across the chasms.
Initially, it seemed that Herzog might have succeeded in keeping Washington and Jerusalem from drifting any further apart at the very least.
Hours before Herzog took off from Israel for Washington – an invitation that Netanyahu has waited for since he returned to office – Biden spoke with the prime minister by phone, in what seemed to be an attempt to reduce the magnitude of the snub. He agreed to meet Netanyahu at long last, though it’s not yet clear when, or if it will take place at the White House.
Biden’s apparent change of tone was even more noticeable in his meeting with Herzog on Tuesday.
After his administration weighed in several times in recent months to warn Netanyahu’s government against advancing the original version of its judicial overhaul and to only adopt reforms that have consensus support, Biden notably made absolutely no mention of the issue during his comments in front of the press.
He did not remind Israel that bilateral ties are rooted in democratic values, nor of his not-so-subtle warning about the potential effects of the judicial overhaul passing, and avoided other potential areas of friction, including settlements, a two-state solution, and Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.
Instead, Biden told Herzog about his love for Israel, calling it “deep-rooted and long-lasting.”
“This is a friendship which I believe is simply unbreakable, unbreakable, and together we are working to bring more integration and stability in the Middle East,” the president said.
A message through Friedman
But it didn’t take long before it became painfully obvious how wide the gaps between the governments actually remained, and that Herzog’s largely symbolic visit would not suffice to bring them back together.
The White House statement on Tuesday’s meeting returned to the subtly critical language the administration has used since Netanyahu returned to power. It mentioned that Biden noted that the US-Israel relationship is “based on the bedrock of shared democratic values,” hinting that if the overhaul passes, the foundations of the relationship will have been shaken.
It also said the leaders “discussed the need for a consensus-based approach to the judicial reform package,” something quite different than the emerging situation, in which the coalition is poised to pass changes unilaterally, over the increasingly desperate protests of the opposition.
The statement said that Biden spoke about another area of ongoing disagreement, a Palestinian state.
“President Biden reiterated his commitment to maintaining a path for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the best avenue to a lasting and just peace, and to providing Israelis and Palestinians equal measures of freedom, prosperity and security,” said the US readout.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who repeatedly lectured Israeli leaders on democratic values when he visited in February, returned to the same themes before his meeting with Herzog.
“We have, indeed, a unique relationship grounded in our commitment to Israel’s security, but also grounded in democratic values,” said Blinken.
He also indicated that failing to find a solution with the Palestinians would undermine Israel’s status as a democracy. A two-state solution, he said “is essential to Israel’s long-term security and its standing as a democratic and Jewish state.”
But most concerning for the state and future of the bilateral relationship was the interview Biden gave to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman hours after his warm meeting with Israel’s president. That interview – to which Biden dedicated more time than he did to Herzog – was meant to make perfectly clear that the US president was in no way assuaged.
Biden, who didn’t warn Herzog he was about to create headlines that would overshadow their friendly meeting, told Friedman that he expressed his concerns on the judicial overhaul to Netanyahu.
According to Friedman, Biden wanted to express that if the judicial overhaul proposals are passed, “you’d be breaking one of the most important bonds between the United States and Israel, our shared values around democratic decision-making and an independent judiciary.”
To further remove any doubt, the White House later stressed that Friedman’s piece “directly quoted the president” and that Biden’s “comments in the article stand for [themselves].”
And on Thursday, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby went on Israeli news to again underscore that Friedman’s piece was an ”accurate reflection” of what Biden thinks and has had to say.
The lady doth protest too much
Herzog’s other showcase event on his trip was his address to a joint session of Congress. The speech was, in many ways, classic Herzog. It was a mix of family history, Jewish teachings, biblical references, and ultimately, a vision of Israel’s future as a nation that contributes to the welfare of humanity.
He also sought to present Israel not as a junior partner dependent on the US for its survival, but as a full-fledged, co-equal ally facing the same challenges.
“It is clear that America is irreplaceable to Israel,” he said, “and Israel is irreplaceable to America. It is time to design the next stage of our evolving friendship and our growing partnership together.”
But when a leader has to reiterate repeatedly that his country is a liberal democracy, it gives the impression that there might be reason to doubt that claim.
“Being powerful is like being a lady,” British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said. “If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
The leaders of most Western democracies don’t have to go around lauding their free and fair elections and minority rights. When Israel’s president has to do so, even though the bipartisan crowd stood and applauded, it’s a sign there is something amiss.
It’s not clear how much Biden’s message has gotten through to Netanyahu or his coalition partners, but Herzog, who has pushed compromise talks on the reform legislation, echoed Biden’s comments on Israel’s domestic strife, noting that Israel’s vibrant democracy is “safeguarded by its strong Supreme Court and independent judiciary,” in what appeared to be a clear rebuke of the government’s plan, which would markedly reduce the court’s independence.
The president will have plenty to be proud of on his trip. There isn’t much that brings the parties together in the US, and seeing hundreds of lawmakers rise on both sides of the aisle is an important statement abroad regarding the breadth of support for Israel.
“I’ve appeared before many parliaments,” he said on Thursday, “but it is extremely emotional to see the enthusiasm that was there.”
His personal friendship with both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was apparent. And he met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who represent a community with which Israel has had trouble finding common ground.
“One thing was very clear,” Herzog told reporters in New York Thursday. “There is love for Israel on both sides of the aisle, despite the impression one gets in Israel that it’s a lost cause.”
But when he flies back to Israel on Saturday night, Herzog will be heading back into a political maelstrom growing ever more dangerous as it tears at the ties that unify Israeli society. That battle is keeping the US president and Israel’s prime minister from focusing on the Iranian threat and from building on the Abraham Accords.
Ever the dogged optimist, Herzog will put his head down and keep pushing the sides to come to some agreement on judicial reform. And he has stayed upbeat on the future of US-Israel ties. But it will take more than positive cheer and symbolic meetings to change a reality that is growing more problematic with every passing week.
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