The Financial Times published an article by journalist Mehul Srivastava in which he said that Benjamin Netanyahu resorted to the Israeli lobby, the second most powerful force supporting the Jewish state in Washington, a few days after his public disagreement with Joe Biden - who declares that he is a Zionist.

In a short but scathing speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) last week, he rejected every rebuke the US president had ever leveled: that the Israeli military had killed too many civilians in its attempt to defeat Hamas, and that Netanyahu was hurting Israel by While obstructing the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Israeli Prime Minister should allow the moderate and secular Palestinian Authority to administer Gaza.

“You cannot say that you support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself and then oppose Israel when it exercises this right,” Netanyahu said, referring to Biden’s repeated demands to postpone the planned attack in Rafah, on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip.

The writer comments that perhaps there is no greater student of American power among world leaders than Netanyahu himself. He has befriended and feuded with four American presidents, turned the Republican Party — and the evangelical Christians who make up its base — into all-weather friends, and reaped the benefits of an enduring military and diplomatic alliance that no other country has enjoyed.

Since Hamas's devastating attack on Israel on October 7, emergency airlifts of US weapons have helped support the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, while US diplomats have worked to protect it from criticism in the UN Security Council, and US lawyers have defended... In its favor at the International Court of Justice.

In addition to the $3.4 billion that the United States gives to Israel annually, which usually represents a quarter of its annual military budget, there is another $15 billion awaiting Congressional approval. For Biden, it is the fabric of an enduring and unique alliance, not just during this war, but throughout the five decades of his political career.

But now, at a time when Israel needs American support more than ever — with Israel determined to push its Gaza war to Rafah, and daily tit-for-tat escalation that brings it to the brink of all-out conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah forces stationed in it — Netanyahu has chosen to antagonize the White House. This could put this aid at risk.

Biden, who has not spoken with Netanyahu since mid-February, appeared last week via a live microphone saying that it was time for a “Come to Jesus” moment with the Israeli prime minister, and then told MSNBC that Netanyahu “Hurts Israel.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the most prominent Jewish politician in America, was more frank: Israel needs elections to replace the leader who has weakened its “political and moral fabric.”

According to the writer, in his dispute with Biden, Netanyahu bet that the other levels of influence he had gained over decades - from friendly US senators, to the powerful pro-Israel lobby and Israel’s pivotal geopolitical role in the region - would preserve his ability to wage war and keep him in office. "It's a gamble he's taken before, but never this high risk."

He referred to what Ehud Olmert, Netanyahu’s predecessor as prime minister, said: “Netanyahu is playing a risky game that may cost Israel a lot. If Biden decides to punish Netanyahu, it will end up hurting Israel as well.”

Other Israeli leaders have clashed with the White House before: Ronald Reagan accused Menachem Begin of committing a “Holocaust” after Israel bombed Beirut in August 1982; George H.W. Bush was forced to withhold $10 billion in loan guarantees to force Yitzhak Shamir to delay settlement construction and engage in peace talks with the Palestinians in 1991.

But, according to the writer, no one did this as brazenly as Netanyahu, whose right-wing base loves him when he keeps the White House close to him, loves him when he challenges him, and portrays himself as the only Israeli who can say no to America.

The report quoted Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel and Barack Obama’s peace envoy, as saying: “The dispute over civilian casualties represents a serious problem for US-Israeli relations and Netanyahu’s ability to continue his war until complete victory is achieved.” If Netanyahu was concerned about the relationship between the United States and Israel, he would not have allowed things to deteriorate to this point.”

Indyk said Netanyahu's primary motivation is to keep his far-right coalition partners satisfied. “The best way to do this is to confront Biden rather than accommodate him. . . Now we sit and watch the train crash.”

The writer describes the situation as a rapid break in relations, especially after Biden became the first American leader to visit Israel during the war, as he hugged Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in mid-October, after the deadly Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. About 240 hostages were taken.

Biden said during his trip: “Justice must be achieved.” But I warn you, as you feel this anger, let it take hold of you.”

Since then, Netanyahu has overseen a war in Gaza that has killed more than 31,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, and has resisted calls for an extended ceasefire that could help the United States and Qatar mediate a second round of hostage swaps. Israel claims to have killed at least 10,000 Hamas fighters.

Netanyahu's separation from Biden came in the same week that the US intelligence community issued an annual assessment challenging the pillars of his current political strategy. It found that Iran had no role or knowledge of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, that the complete defeat of Hamas may take years, and that Netanyahu’s grip on power may be weak.

“This is one of the biggest crises in relations between the United States and Israel,” said Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States during the Obama administration and a deputy minister in a previous government.

Oren added that although Biden has ruled out cutting off Iron Dome interceptors that protect Israeli cities from Hamas and Hezbollah rockets, it is not clear whether the United States is equally determined to continue supplying the larger offensive weapons that Israel has used extensively in Gaza. .

The use of these 2,000-pound US-supplied bombs, the largest in its conventional arsenal, in densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods has drawn international condemnation.

Oren noted that the United States may have changed the mix of munitions it sends. “Aid has actually changed in substance, not quantity,” he said. “My feeling is that precision bombs continue to arrive, because that is in Biden’s interest — there is much less collateral damage.”

Based on the report, a person familiar with Netanyahu’s decision to confront Biden’s demands, rather than respond to them, denied that the Israeli Prime Minister was reacting to the American political calendar, where Republican support far exceeds the Democratic Party’s support for Netanyahu.

He quoted a person who claimed that support for Netanyahu in the American political establishment goes deeper than the White House, “because under Netanyahu, Israel made the world safer” for US interests in the region, “this is a historical fact.” After sharp criticism from Schumer on Thursday, Netanyahu's Likud party on Thursday called for "respect," saying: "Israel is not a banana republic, but an independent and proud democracy."

According to the writer, it is certain that Netanyahu's history with American power is long, if it is defined by his quest for power. His American accent — which he honed as a student, then a consultant, in Boston, when his name was Ben Nitai — made him a mainstay on American television, especially on CNN during the first Gulf War.

According to him, “His friendship and easy political charm turned American politicians into lifelong friends, who still call the longest-serving Israeli prime minister by his childhood nickname, “Bibi.”

But, according to him, Netanyahu was also proud to sacrifice these relationships when his principles - or policies - were threatened. “No one in history has insulted the Oval Office the way Netanyahu did,” Olmert said, referring to the period when he broke with Obama over nuclear talks with Iran in 2015. In light of the White House’s refusal, Netanyahu simply delivered a direct speech at the session. Joint Congress.

At the time, Netanyahu paid a small political price – Obama was on his way out and, other than blocking a US veto in a December 2016 UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, continued to implement the nuclear deal over Netanyahu’s theatrical objections.

Donald Trump later tore up that deal, after Netanyahu exploited the president's antipathy toward any Obama-era legislation by providing secret documents Mossad had extracted from Tehran indicating that Iran had sought a nuclear weapon in the early 2000s.

“[Democrats] never forgot that,” Indyk said. “Bibi has succeeded in destroying the nature of bipartisan support for Israel — a long-standing tradition that he deliberately put in jeopardy, believing that evangelicals are more reliable than progressive [American] Jews.”

Now, there are many Democrats whom Netanyahu has offended in the Biden administration, and Trump's generosity cannot be relied upon if he wins the US elections. “Fuck him,” Trump told an Israeli reporter in 2021, complaining that Netanyahu had congratulated Biden on his victory.

“The election is still a long way off, and the inauguration is a year away,” Oren said. “It's not like there's a new administration tomorrow — for now, you'll have to deal with Biden.”