Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s visit to the United States this week, his first since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, surprise Hamas attack, could result in mixed results as he returns home.
Netanyahu met with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump, along with giving a joint address to Congress during his whirlwind visit.
Many of these meetings featured pressures for the prime minister to agree to a ceasefire agreement in the fight against Hamas. But it also gave Netanyahu some needed credence as he beats back growing frustration in Israel.
“He got exactly what he wanted out of the trip,” Anshel Pfeffer, the prime minister’s biographer and the Economist’s Israel correspondent, told the Washington Post. “He got a big show, the spectacle of being a statesman that he thrives on.”
“This was Netanyahu returning to his well-known role of making the Israeli case in a prestigious setting in articulate English,” added Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute. “It’s going to be well-received by those people inclined to support him.”
A new poll released Friday showed 32% of Israelis preferred Netanyahu for the role of prime minister compared to 28% who preferred Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, 31% who said neither candidate, and 4% who said they didn’t know. Between Netanyahu and former premier Naftali Bennett, 33% chose the premier, while 32% chose Netanyahu. Between the prime minister and National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, 32% went with the incumbent, while 28% went with Gantz.
The poll showed warning signs for Netanyahu, with 65% who said his speech to Congress did not change their views on the prime minister, and 48% who said he went to Washington, D.C., to pursue his own personal interests.
Several Democratic leaders have spoken out against the battle in the Middle East as civilian deaths have climbed and some humanitarian aid workers have been killed in the conflict. Some of the most progressive Democrats such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza. During Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, the Michigan Democrat staged a silent protest by holding up a double-sided sign that read “War Criminal” and “Guilty of Genocide.”
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in May over the ongoing deaths in Gaza, which could lead to war charges.
Netanyahu can still hold on to power according to some experts. A source close to the prime minister told the Washington Post that Netanyahu’s team is satisfied with the U.S. visit but were caught off-guard by Harris’s rhetoric following their meeting. “Harris was a surprise,” the source said. “She was harsher than expected.”
Trump slammed Harris’s remarks as “disrespectful,” during his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
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Harris did not attend his address to Congress and delivered forceful remarks about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “We cannot allow ourselves to be numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” Harris said Thursday after meeting with the prime minister. Harris is on the verge of becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, and if she wins the election, U.S.-Israel relations may not change.
Netanyahu’s dilemma over accepting a ceasefire deal with Hamas could threaten his career if the terrorist group is not completely defeated. Yet the goodwill brought on by the trip to the U.S. could help him with the right-leaning voters and government leaders helping him to survive elections.
