The Biden administration has presented Netanyahu a plan that could potentially defeat Hamas and cinch Saudi normalization with Israel. But Washington is growing impatient with the prime minister’s inaction which threatens to undermine America’s credibility in the region — and Israel’s very future.
This week’s visit by Jake Sullivan, U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, came at a turbulent. uncertain time both inside Israel’s domestic politics and U.S.-Israel Relations.
But it put into relief the strategic choice Israel faces about its future, one in which U.S. diplomacy seeks to pave an off-ramp from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current road to nowhere through a draft plan for Israel’s continued integration into the region. The crown jewel of that integration would be a Saudi normalization deal.
Sullivan arrived in wake of Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz threatening to quit if Netanyahu failed to outline a post-war Gaza plan by June 8th and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calling on Netanyahu to rule out Israel assuming control of Gaza after the war. Both statements highlight cracks in two pillars of Israel’s emergency governing coalition and reflect a debate inside of Israeli society about the best way to bring hostages home, end the war in Gaza, and plan for the future.
Photo by MIRIAM ALSTER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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