The Wall Street Journal published an article today, Saturday, saying that in the decades-long history of relations between the United States and Israel, there has rarely been another moment in which an American president was closer to Israel and more at odds with its prime minister.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza five months ago, President Biden has repeatedly described the relationship between the United States and Israel as unbreakable. But his nearly 50-year relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has steadily deteriorated, riven by their conflicting political agendas and conflicting war goals.

The tense relationship between Biden and Netanyahu highlights how Washington and Israel will grow further apart the longer Israel's war on Gaza drags on, raising uncomfortable questions about the long-term strength of a relationship that once seemed austere.

The newspaper attributes Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli ambassador to the United States and advisor to a number of Israeli prime ministers, as saying that “there is a very serious crisis in the relationship.”

It is noteworthy that last week, Biden pledged to have what he described as a very frank conversation about the war with Netanyahu, pressed for more humanitarian aid to Gaza and announced that he may withhold US arms shipments unless Israel takes more steps to protect civilians in Gaza, a step he sought. White House aides were quick to downplay its importance.

In another extraordinary development, the top heads of US intelligence agencies publicly warned in their testimony before Congress this week that Netanyahu's political future is in grave danger, and Senate Majority Leader and the most important American Jewish political leader, Chuck Schumer (Democrat from New York), called on Thursday for Israeli elections were held to replace him in new elections during a scathing speech he delivered in the Senate. The White House said it was aware of the speech before it was delivered, but did not coordinate it with Schumer.

In response to a question about Schumer’s statements on Friday, Biden told reporters: “He gave a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern not only for him, but also for many Americans.”

Netanyahu responded by pledging to resist pressure to curtail Israel's goal of destroying the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, whose surprise October 7 attack sparked the war. In a video address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he said that Israel retains the support of an “overwhelming majority” of the American public and Congress — a not-so-subtle reminder to the White House that it runs a political risk by taking a hostile stance.

The newspaper says: “Washington’s relationship with its closest allies in the Middle East has been considered sacred for years, and so impregnable that neither Republican nor Democratic administrations were willing to risk a serious violation for fear that this would ultimately benefit the other party politically.”

The last time US-Israeli relations sank to this level was during Barack Obama's presidency when Netanyahu, who was also facing a re-election battle, said he would never accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel and denounced the nuclear deal the US reached with Iran in 2015.

The newspaper points out that Biden has a deep attraction towards Israel, which led him to strongly support its war on Gaza. In the war, this support even extended to Netanyahu, a frequent opponent during their long political career.

But instead of responding to Biden's embrace, Netanyahu rebuffed him at almost every turn, rejecting a postwar US plan that called for bringing the Palestinian Authority, which currently rules part of the West Bank, to Gaza and launching a new diplomatic campaign to establish a Palestinian state. . Biden still insists that he will never abandon Israel.

Netanyahu's opposition has blocked the president's plan for Israel to agree to a path to Palestinian statehood in exchange for normalizing Israeli relations with Saudi Arabia, depriving the White House of a diplomatic coup.

The newspaper attributes Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel, as saying that the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu was a “one-way street,” as the US president offered his support to Israel at some political cost, only to have his own requests rejected.

“Netanyahu was so inflexible and confrontational that the president had to take a stand,” Indyk said.

After weeks of American pressure from Washington to protect the Palestinians who took refuge in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Netanyahu agreed on Friday to military plans that include the evacuation of civilians, according to a statement issued by his office without providing details. Israeli officials also said they plan to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, another US priority.

But there are also signs that Netanyahu believes he can win a contest for the White House, and that Biden may not want an all-out showdown in an election year.

Netanyahu is unpopular in Israel, but his government's handling of the war has broad support, including its plan to send troops to Rafah, even without Washington's support. Polls generally show that most Israelis agree with Netanyahu's positions, but also want him out of office.

Even his rivals, including Benny Gantz, head of the National Unity Party and a member of the war cabinet, support the Rafah process, complicating White House efforts to bypass Netanyahu, according to the newspaper.

It is noteworthy that, amid growing tensions with the White House, Netanyahu told AIPAC delegates meeting in Washington last Tuesday that he appreciated the support that Israel received from Biden and his administration, “and I hope that this continues, but let me be clear, Israel will win this war no matter what happens.” 

Netanyahu and his supporters say that Biden has now become an obstacle because of his yielding to internal political pressure to stop the war, at a time when Netanyahu claims that “victory is within reach,” noting that Israel has not achieved any of its declared goals, while Netanyahu’s Israeli critics say that he opposed Biden’s plans for the future. The war is to maintain the support of his allies in the extreme right-wing coalition, and because standing up to the American president plays well with right-wing voters in Israel.

“There is no logic in this public battle other than to please his political base, so that it is well received by his right wing,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said this week.

Netanyahu's determination to continue and prolong the war puts him in direct conflict with Biden's re-election concerns. Supporting Israel's conduct in the war may help Biden with pro-Israel voters in the United States, but it also risks undermining his support among young voters angry at the humanitarian crisis created by the war in Gaza and at US military aid to Israel. The White House is also concerned about alienating Arab-American voters in Michigan, a state critical to the president's re-election prospects.

Analysts say the longer the war lasts, the deeper the wedge it could drive into Biden's voter base.