Netanyahu’s Losing Battle

Benjamin Netanyahu has waged an obsessive diplomatic battle against the nuclear deal with Iran without considering the ramifications of gambling Israel’s important relationship with the United States, so necessary for Israel’s survival. He gambled and lost. At least that’s the opinion of the independent global media, save for his “hometown” newspaper, Israel Hayom.

Even in Netanyahu’s office, no one still believes that the six-nation agreement with Tehran can be overturned by a congressional vote. Actually, they now say that no one ever deluded themselves that that was a realistic strategy to begin with. But with such an existential question as the Iranian threat, Israel couldn’t simply throw in the towel without some pushback.

Netanyahu was raised in the United States and considers himself to be highly knowledgeable about the country but in fact he has made several miscalculations about the USA. He made his first cardinal error during the 2012 presidential election when he blatantly declared his unsolicited support for Obama’s challenger, Mitt Romney. Then he showed enormous chutzpah the day he accepted a Republican invitation, made behind Obama’s back, to address the U.S. Congress, where he ranted against Obama’s policies. The unintended result of that was to drive pro-Israeli Democrats back into Obama’s camp.

The Nuclear Deal was Another Obama Success

Netanyahu’s confidantes disagree. The campaign was at least successful to the extent that it convinced a majority of American voters that it was a bad deal. Caroline Glick, the ultraconservative columnist for The Jerusalem Post, believes that will pay off in the 2016 presidential election. Beyond that, according to Glick, Netanyahu’s squabble with Obama created the possibility for Israeli unilateral action, meaning that Israel would reserve the right to take unilateral military action against Iran.

Now Comes the Damage Control

A number of former Israeli intelligence chiefs and generals do not favor any military intervention, nor do they trust the often hesitant Netanyahu to make such a decision. The Israeli security ministry was prepared to give the green light for a preventive invasion in 2010, 2011 and again in 2013 according to former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, but several “wimps” eventually backed down. More’s the luck, as the saying goes. Haaretz journalist Amir Oren wrote that had Israel attacked it would now be in the midst of Iran’s reconstituted nuclear program which Israel’s attack would seem to justify. Thanks to the negotiations, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have now been placed under 15 years of meaningful restrictions.

In any case, damage control is definitely called for in the matter of the frayed U.S.-Israeli relationship. To that end, Secretary of State John Kerry has called Netanyahu to set up a meeting for the end of September in concert with the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. An assistance package designed to strengthen Israel’s missile defense system and additional military aid will be offered. But Obama and Netanyahu will never be able to reset their friendship to an earlier date.