New Republic: “There is nothing new or unexpected about Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrogance. When President Bill Clinton first met him at the White House in 1996—mere weeks after Netanyahu first took office as Israel’s prime minister—he reportedly seethed to aides, ‘Who the fuck does he think he is? Who’s the fucking superpower here?’ That arrogance subsequently caused rifts with Republican and Democratic presidents alike. Netanyahu, now in his third stint as prime minister, has not changed at all over the last 30 years.”
“And yet, President Biden apparently thought he could influence how the Israeli leader responded to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks. In the ensuing months, as the civilian death toll of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza climbed past 10,000 and then 20,000 and then 30,000, Americans were treated to stories in the press suggesting that although Biden publicly embraced Netanyahu at every opportunity, he was working hard in private to constrain him. This notion stretched credulity, given that Biden was no stranger to Netanyahu’s ways, having served as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, as vice president, witnessed Barack Obama’s increasingly frosty relationship with him.”
“But now, given the events of the past few days, we can say with total certainty that this back channel pressure—to the extent it existed—has been a spectacular failure.”
Haaretz: Netanyahu ignored every warning. Now Biden is telling Israel: “Enough Is enough.”
