There is an arrogance in the persona of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that defies common political convention and norms, furnishing him with an unshakeable belief that he indeed can do no wrong or harm. That hubris is a fatal flaw and one that now may very well harm the keystone relationship between Israel and the United States.
And perhaps, given the historic and unbridled support at the UN Security Council from the US and its all-powerful veto for all the terror and territorial claims of Israel, a weakening of that Capitol and Knesset alliance may indeed be welcome by all who support the Palestinian cause for land, rights and justice.
On March 17, Netanyahu faces a stiff electoral test when Israel goes to the polls in a general election. One would imagine that deep into a campaign, Netanyahu would be kissing babies and making stump speeches. But on Tuesday, he will fulfil a Republican party invitation and speak before Congress in Washington. Never mind that he is turning the occasion into a political stump speech to warn of the dangers of doing a nuclear deal with Tehran, his visit is politically polarising in a city deeply divided between a White House controlled by Democrats and a presidential veto, and Republicans who control both Senate and House of Representatives and who sense a real opportunity of retaking the Oval Office in 22 months’ time.
President Barack Obama has rightly dismissed the visit as party politics and has asserted the long-standing protocols at the White House that foreign leaders engaged in election campaigns do not get to stand on the welcome mat there. What Netanyahu is doing, however, is also forcing Democrats — long the political allies of Jewish lobby and voters in America — to look deep within. For them the choice is stark: Support the president in condemning the visit, even though he is lame-duck or condemn the visit organised by Republicans as a partisan stunt, and risk the political fallout of those Jewish voters and the all-powerful Jewish lobby.
Now imagine just how divisive Netanyahu is in Israel.
