How Prime Minister Netanyahu soured US – Israeli relations

ONE of the cardinal rules for maintaining good diplomatic relations between two countries is for each party to assiduously avoid tampering in the other’s national politics. The recent actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offers a classic example of the consequence of disobeying this rule.

To begin with, Netanyahu was not invited to visit the US by the White House, but rather, circumventing normal protocol, he decided to come at the invitation of Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, who promised the Israeli Prime Minister that he would schedule a speech for him before the American Congress. A group of 200 former military officials in Israel called on him to cancel the speech, and the leader of the Labor Party, Isaac Herzog, who will challenge Mr. Netanyahu in the March 17 elections, also called upon him to cancel. “You will cause strategic damage to Israel’s standing and to the relations with United States.”

President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, said flatly that the Israeli Prime Minister was doing something “destructive to the fabric of the relationship” when he accepted.

When the speech was scheduled, 30 Democrats in Congress announced that they would not attend, and US Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry were conveniently abroad.

Netanyahu was apparently playing to his home constituency when he spoke about America’s relations with Iran, warning of Iran’s perfidy, at the very time that the US and Iran were in the midst of negotiating an understanding on Iran’s nuclear program.

The White House expressed its annoyance by refusing to schedule a meeting for Netanyahu with President Obama while he was in the United States. In turn, Netanyahu declined to meet with Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Richard Durbin of Illinois when they proposed a meeting with leading Democrats in Congress.

Israel and the United States have long enjoyed good relations but Netanyahu’s criticism of the government’s nuclear negotiations has cooled the trust and cooperation between the two countries.

By playing to his own national audience instead of addressing areas of Israeli-American cooperation the prime minister has soared the relationship between the two former friends and allies.

The American president’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, concluded that Netanyahu’s visit was “destructive” to the American-Israeli relationship.